Status Updates From Out of the Ashes

Life will always be changing; is meant to evolve.
But no matter how often it tumbles and crashes,
Remember your strength and your own resolve–
Just knowing your heart, you will rise from the ashes.

Even if you cannot change
where you have been,
or how things are now,
you can always change the way
you encourage yourself to persist.

I used to think healing would feel like revenge, but it doesn't–it just feels like breathing again.

The tide has changed. I opened my eyes one day, and I said, No more. There would be no more shrinking, there would be no more disappearing or avoiding. Because I do fill space, and that space matters.

I had spent my life making myself smaller. Trying to shrink myself so that nobody would notice me. When I walked into a room, I disappeared into the crowd. When I spoke, the words were soft. I have tried to make myself quiet, prioritize others, consider their needs greater than my own. And it has only caused immense suffering.