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.

In That Moment

When my heart feels sad for a hundred different reasons, there’s always the sea – soothing me with its waves. Mountains – inspiring me with their strength. Desert – reminding me that even in the dust and barrenness, beauty exists. And if nature weren’t enough, then comes music. Notes and words and feelings all juxtaposed together somehow making sense of the sadness, the madness, the brilliant, brilliant mess. And in that moment of utterly losing myself to the wind and the earth and the songs – the stories reminding me of ones greater than my own – I find a little bit of myself I thought I’d lost. In that moment, I am free.

Moves Like David

I think if I could relate to anyone in the bible, it would be David. He was messy and emotional and flawed, but I think he had this way of being able to worship with a sort of reckless abandon. That is what I feel bubbling in my soul. That is what I want – to truly be able to dance, not just in my livingroom but within the confines of traditional church walls. I think we collectively talk about freedom, but we’re actually afraid to let go and truly be free. Maybe we’re all waiting on each other to make the first move. 

Free Spirits

Somehow the world would have us think that normal is what we should be. And if we aren’t normal, then that should be our goal. But perhaps your inability to feel like you truly belong is the tool that drives you forward – to seek after the dreams in your heart, as elusive as they appear to be at times.

We complicate so many things unnecessarily. Following your heart is perhaps the riskiest venture you’ll ever undertake because your mind wants to tell you otherwise – to talk you out of the crazy ideas and notions your heart is telling you. The mind is the logic, but the heart is the dreamer in all of us.

And though you may feel like a dreamer stuck in a world barraging you with the message that you must conform to normality, remember that free spirits don’t conform. Free spirits have always and will always make their own path. People are afraid to change – afraid of change. But you – you are the game changer. You are the one meant to seek new adventures and experiences. To keep moving forward. To grow. To challenge yourself and others. And you do that by being different. By being bold. By being you.

It’s ok to dream. 

It’s ok to believe in love, and to fight for it. 

It’s ok to feel restless, because perhaps that restlessness is your heart trying to move your feet down a path you wouldn’t have otherwise gone down if you were content and comfortable and safe. 

Embrace the free spirit that you are. Embrace your wildness. Embrace yourself, and be free.