Hold Tight

I feel a tiredness in my soul today. The world is just messy and sad and hard. Now more than ever we need to hold onto the people who truly see us in all shades of light, in all shades of night. People who we don’t have to question will be there when we need them the most. Not in theory or in well-intended clichés, but on the ground, in the trenches – with us. People who see our flaws and adore us despite those flaws. People who celebrate our uniqueness and hold a mirror to our souls when we start to doubt the value we bring to the world.

I want to be that person --- that fights like hell for you when you can’t see your way clear of the madness. That sees you, and knows you, and reminds you of the best version of yourself. And I want you to be that person for me. Because without love, without true, gritty connection, we are all just hollowed out beings walking through a wasteland without purpose and without hope. And this kind of existence was never our dream. It was never meant to be our future. So if you happen to find those few who defy this fate, hold tight – hold tight and never let go.

That Feeling

That feeling
As if the world were mine and only mine.

That feeling
That life and love and everything that moves us is big and beautiful and worth all the heartache.

That feeling
That there is more, if we could only reach beyond our finite grasp and see the limitless possibilities that lie just past our fears and our reservations and our wounds. 

That feeling. 
I would chase that feeling to the end of time. 

Fierce

You are so much more
Than what you see,
Than what I see.

You are fierce.
You are a blazing, roaring fire
In a city of ashes,
Amidst a sea of flickering flames
Slowly surrendering to the shadows of night.

Refuse to let the wounds define you.
Refuse to let the wounded extinguish you.
Refuse to be tamed.
To dwindle down into a meagre, burnt-out coal.

Find a way to fuel your flame when no one else remembers to,
When no one else has the capacity to,
When your very being abandons you.

Because the world needs the light that burns within your soul.
The world needs the love that swells inside your bones.
The world needs you --
Your passion,
Your vision,
Your full and fathomless heart.

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.