Christmas Wishes

For those of you who aren’t where you thought you’d be this Christmas —

For those of you who’ve had to put a brave face on —

For those of you who didn’t get the happy ending or the fairytale beginning —

For those of you who had to take many deep breaths to get through this season while others had no idea you were even struggling for oxygen —

For those of you who carried yourselves with a grace far beyond what anyone else could muster had they been in your shoes —

I see you.

You are not alone.

You are braver than you think.

You are loved more than you know.

Wishing you a year ahead that is truly

Merry + bright —

In every prayer hoped for,

And in every dream imagined.

Brave

Choosing to be brave is never a mistake.
But sometimes it will cost you every drop of strength you had left in your being.
And when it does - when it leaves your heart cracked, stripped bare,
And your soul a desert of wasted love and wilted dreams,
You'll tell yourself that you were foolish.
Too idealistic. Too hopeful. Too bold.
You'll tell yourself to be silent next time.
You'll tell yourself it must be you.
But it was never you.
You, my dear one, are the brightest truest thing there ever was.

So write this on the chalkboard of your mind.
Scream it in the chambers of your heart.
Choosing to be brave is never a mistake.
Because in that choice, you honor yourself.
You honor humanity.
You honor life itself.
We were never meant to be vessels of unspoken words,
Of fear, of cowardice,
Of smothered hopes,
And stifled cries.

I know right now you feel trapped in the sadness,
In the fog of unanswered questions,
In the hauntings of self doubt,
But you are not trapped forever.
Because only in complete vulnerability can you ever be free.
And you set yourself free every single time you choose to speak up,
To step out,
To leap,
To love.

All Those Small Moments

I love this quote from the film We Bought A Zoo where the character Benjamin Mee says: “You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.” As with anything as unpredictable as life, I’ve had moments where I’ve been brave before, and the story didn’t pan out how I thought it would. It’s easy to recoil after those moments and vow to never let your idealist heart be so recklessly bold again. But every good story has those moments. Every good story requires those moments. So maybe, if you keep putting yourself out there, keep taking one small step at a time, you’ll look back one day and realize it was all those small moments – of defeat, and of triumph – that got you where you are.