Forge

“How do you move on? You move on when your heart finally understands that there is no turning back.”

- J.R.R. Tolkien 

Grow

“No one warns you about the amount of mourning in growth.”

- Té V. Smith Releasing & Recieving 

Fly Again

“One day, your heart will learn to fly again, and you will see such beautiful things. I hope you have the patience to wait for that day, to know that the lonely hours are not spent in vain, but that you are just slowly gaining the strength and courage to use your wings again.”

- T.B. LaBerge // Unwritten Letters to You 

Iceland Eve

"In Iceland, books are exchanged on Christmas Eve, and you spend the rest of the night reading. People generally take their books to bed along with some chocolate. How cozy and wonderful does that sound?

(More fun facts: Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country, and new books are typically published only during the Christmas season—the frenzy is called Jólabókaflóð, or the Christmas Book Flood.)"

Work it out

“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.”

- C.S. Lewis (a grief observed)

This is not a breakdown

"I promise you. 

The way you feel right now? This is where the magic happens.

When finally the tears come, that is your genesis. You gotta smash a few things to let the light in, you know? And in the ruins, in the discarded shards of what you thought you wanted, something will glimmer. It will catch your eye and you’ll focus on that: the tiny bit of beautiful in the mess that you’ve made. It will be enough to make you think, okay. One more shot. You’ll rebuild, focusing on that one thing that made you believe you could. It will be a new focal point. A new reason. And what you make the second time around will be stronger, better, more you than ever before.

The same goes for the third, fourth, and ninety-ninth time too.

When you’re face down in the dirt, at the bottom of the proverbial hole, you cannot believe that it will ever be better. But I promise: this has an end point. This will not last forever.

It might, though, go on a little longer than you’d like....

Call your best friend, dress a little fancier than usual, and be brave. 

Know that you might not have the answers, but that you’re prepared to listen: to the people who love you, to the people you respect, to your own heart. Listen.

Slow down, cancel some plans, be with yourself. When you’re at the very bottom, when you can’t see where you should put your next step, stand still. Take stock of what you’ve got, how far you’ve come, if this thing that eludes you – do you actually, really, genuinely want it? Or is desiring it habit from the old you who you no longer are, now that you know this pain?

Complete a task. It doesn’t matter what it is – pick something from your list that can be executed now. You’ll feel better for doing something, even if it is simply collecting your prescription or getting a food shop done. Keep breathing. Go to bed early after a hot bath and tomorrow will be – no matter how imperceptibly – better.

Imagine how you’ll feel in another six months. Will you even remember this?

Use this hurt, this frustration, to inform your next decisions. Focus on what feels good, and lean, unapologetically, into that. 

Wrestle for your happiness, but know that the best people aren’t happy, they’re whole. 

That means fighting the good fight, knowing what you can change and what you can’t – and having the good grace to know the difference.

This is your becoming. If flowers can teach themselves how to bloom after winter passes, says Noor Shirazie, then so can you."

-Laura Jane Williams 

Unknown Known

"Making your unknown known is the important thing."

-Georgia O'Keeffe