Sunday, June 12, 2016

On Loving Your Village


I think sometimes we forget that life is not an island. We think that we live in these remote places of our mind, all alone; making new memories, healing past wounds and discovering a new self.
Yet we forget.

We forget that our decisions, actions, our immense pain... all ripple. Our experiences radiate out and extend to the people that care about us most; whether we want it to or not.

Sometimes things happen.  Sometimes life happens. Sometimes it happens in tiny little increments as the days and months pass.  Sometimes it happens all at once...at two o'clock in the morning...while the rain pours down outside your bedroom window and you can barely keep your eyes open and stop the tears from soaking your pillow.

Either way, sometimes...it happens. And if you're lucky (really fucking lucky) you have a handful of people who will raise you up and meet you at the shore. They draw you out of your secluded mind and remind you that you aren't in it by yourself. They will sit next to you, listen to you and bring you out of isolation.





The last year has been challenging for me in a lot of ways. But if it has taught me anything, it's that I'm one of the lucky ones. From the unexpected phone calls; to the code red tea dates; to the text messages that made me laugh. It was a reminder that my struggle isn't an island either. It never was and it never will be. As I start to pick myself up off the rocks I can see the waters begin to calm and the tide begins to change... the ripples begin to calm.

I am beginning to see a familiar reflection staring back at me once again. The gratitude that is flowing from my soul is immeasurable.

Love your village hard, my friends, because of them, you will float instead of sink.