the place

♥️

everyone deserves a place where they can be their whole and real self:

where they don’t have to put their best foot forward 24/7 in order to be cherished.

where they can be who they are and not who the world tells them to be or just who others want them to be. 

where they are allowed to express their fears as well as their triumphs, without fear of isolation, judgment, rejection, or removal of love. 

where they will be embraced when they’re lonely, reassured when they’re afraid, and helped when they’re struggling. 

where they can speak freely about who they are, 

confess the demons they battle, 

and express disappointment or hurt when they experience it.

everyone deserves a place where they can take comfort in being known fully, 

where insecurities don’t outweigh gifts, 

and mistakes don't overrule blessings.

everyone deserves a place where they trust they will not be given up on, 

walked away from, 

disowned 

or given the silent treatment when they say things that are hard to say ... or hard for others to hear.

everyone deserves a place where they know they can confront their own pain and heal in the safety of belonging, without punishment, ridicule, or penalty.

where they can be fully seen and known, with celebration and applause.

where they can be their best 

and where - when they are less than their best - they are reminded of their goodness and truth

without losing the respect, admiration, value, support, worthiness, friendship, 

or love, 

from another.

p.s. sometimes a place is a person

have you ever been empty

i had a conversation with someone today who told me that he felt completely empty.  his face was soaked with tears.  his voice was choked with fatigue.

i felt what he felt, right along with him, i cried right along with him, and i felt the weight of exhaustion. the weight of emptiness.

afterwards as i sat with myself, immobile, i just stared, at nothing and no one.

it washed over me, the last time i felt that sense of emptiness or aloneness.

it was when i felt that a baby inside of me was no longer alive.

i felt that when it happened.  i could feel the difference in my body before even getting to the doctor.  i didn't need a doctor to tell me.  the first time i didn't realize that i knew what had happened.  it was the first time and i was in denial.  i was hoping and praying that i was wrong.  after that i knew.  and each time it was this feeling of emptiness.  

it was like life was inside me.
and then suddenly it wasn't.

i didn't want it to be true.  i was confused and angry and it seemed that other people were having pregnancies easily or having abortions easily.  it didn't seem to matter to anyone else.  there i was with this empty space inside me that no one could see, no one could feel, and apparently no life could live in.

that's how this emptiness felt.
not the presence of anything bad.
but the absence of something good.
the absence of life.

sometimes people come into our lives who have something about them that makes our world better.  they bring us life.  when people say someone is "a breath of fresh air" or "a ray of sunshine" ... they are basically saying that someone breathes life into their own life.  

the loss of someone in your life, due to any circumstance, can create this emptiness.  it is unlike any other, and if you have experienced this, you know what i mean.

if you ever feel this feeling, this hollow feeling, in part of you or what feels like your whole self, like if someone picked you up by your legs and shook you, you would be as light as air, and all they would hear is the sound of your broken pieces rattling around inside, i can assure you that you are not the only one who knows this feeling.

we have not all experienced love in its true form, but we have all experienced pain.

and i think love is the only way out.
the only way to fresh air so that you can breathe.
the only way from darkness into light.
the only way back
to life.