“Poetry is so much more than just an outlet for grief and overthought.”

I remember when I declared that I would not write another word from a place of hurt, even if it meant that I would never write again. I didn’t write a poem for years and when I finally picked up my pen again it was because my good friend, JohnnyRay, challenged my journey. I’d said that I wanted to “find my center” - whatever tf that meant 👀 - but JRay asked a pivotal question that taught me that it’s impossible to find your ‘center’ if you refuse to acknowledge what exists there - be it sadness or grief or joy or peace OR WHATEVER. At the core of my existence was a heart full of hurt. I have taken all of that hurt and managed to flip it into unbounded love, and joy, and grace, and peace. For EVERY tear I’ve EVER cried, God has given me a reason to smile (and I’m sure I’ve cried a few million tears in my life so that’s just as many smiles). My life is not always an open book. It doesn’t need to be. No one needs to know all of the bullshit that I have survived. What you need to know... is that I SURVIVED. 

FOR NOW, that has to be enough...

I said I would never write another word from a place grief - and I won’t - because I want the world to see that there is just as much LIGHT as there is darkness, as much joy as there is sadness, and as much HOPE as there is despair. Fuck darkness. Fuck pain. Fuck grief. Let LIGHT be the focus... LET LOVE BE THE FOCUS! If you want to know anything about me know that I am imperfect and flawed and elusive, overly emotional and hella complex, but I am gentle and compassionate and loyal and giving and genuine. 

FOR NOW that has to be enough.

And if it’s not... Well, then... I’m sorry!