A gentle reminder ♥️

"The truth is, life will amaze you in the most stunning ways, and it will also break your heart. Life will gift you the kinds of lessons that grow you and build you and help for you to bloom into the person you have always hoped to be, but it will also carry within it the kinds of losses that stay with you, that change you and mould you in uncomfortable ways. Life will demand for you to do the work, for you to understand yourself, for you to heal even when it hurts. For you to be brave, for you to fight for yourself. At the end of the day, bravery isn't a battlefield. It isn't fast cars, or stunted risk. Bravery is the quietest thing you will ever know. Bravery is getting up in the morning when your bones are heavy and your heart does not want the light to crack within it. Bravery is leaning into what aches, it is looking it in the face, giving it a name and confronting it for what it is. Bravery is being gentle with yourself, especially when it isn't convenient or easy, especially when you are not a shining example of the person you strive to be. Bravery is forgiving yourself, it is the work you do within your soul that is dirty and difficult and demanding. But most of all, bravery is the way you stretch towards the light. It is the way you bloom in the direction of goodness, even when you may not know what you are reaching for. Bravery is allowing yourself to believe that you are growing, even when it does not feel like it. Bravery is trusting yourself even when you do not recognize the path. Bravery is knowing that there is more for you, that you will have the ability to save yourself like you always have before; that you will survive." — a gentle reminder

The Language of Silence There's something about silence in others that we find frustrating yet intriguing. When you are faced with silence, you have the ability to interpret it in whatever way you want. It's very interesting because silence is not a language, yet it could be more powerful than any language, and it is present absolutely everywhere. It may seem that it doesn't take any energy, but it actually can take more energy than speaking because you hold yourself back from saying what you want to say. We use it to convey happiness, sadness, acceptance, deep thought, disappointment, inability to express our thoughts and feelings, or even carelessness, etc. Sometimes we use it unintentionally, and we are unaware of how those around us interpret it. When speaking words, we can change what they mean by simply changing our tone, but silence has no tone. Instead, the silence of another person awakens many voices within us: those that will tell us what we want to hear, those that will tell us exactly what we need to hear, those that will tell us what we know that we deserve to hear, those that will tell us to wonder about what would happen if that silence meant this or that, etc. This is where our original intention kicks in, and based on it, we have this self-talk that makes us feel shame, guilt, pride, conviction, disappointment, etc. So think about it. Do you actively and selectively use silence as a form of communication? Do you ever think about how people around you interpret it? Similarly, do you give the silence of others the attention and thought that it needs? Or do you just allow one voice within you to affect the way you think?

You will not find a love that is perfect, but you will find a love that reminds you that goodness exists. This love, it will inject honey into the soul of you, it will feel like warmth has cracked within your bones. And you will see how it learns you, and fights for you, and stays to weather the storms by your side. You will be reminded that there is connection in a world that often chooses distance over depth. You will be reminded that there is hope to be found pouring from the fingertips of another human being, tucked between the layers of the things you have yet to discover about them. No, you will not find a love that is perfect, but you will find a love that is light, that isn't heavy to carry, that does not weigh down the core of you. You will finally understand that love was always meant to be soft. That it was always meant to be tender. No, you will not find a love that is perfect — but you will find a love that reminds you just how worthy you always were. This love, it will show you that you were never asking for too much, that the way you sent your heart to war for other human beings was not foolish, that the way you were incapable of loving in halves was not wrong. This love, it will show you that it was always okay to be the kind of person who loved in a way that was full, and nourished, and hopeful all over. That it was always okay to be the kind of person who could never shy away from their heart. This love, it will make up for all of the times you were asked to slaughter your instincts, for all of the times you tried to break yourself down just to comfort or impress someone who was not meant for you. This love, it will show you that you were always worthy of it, that you always deserved to be seen and understood, that you always deserved to be held and cared for the way you held and cared for all that came before it. This love will teach you - that you were never too much. You were always enough. You were always enough.

MY REASON WHY It took me a very long time to discover myself in a way that I can express myself, my thoughts and visions. Is there anyone reading this? Can I really reach you with my words? Do I make a difference? That remains a question, but I like to try. And this is why: Along the way I found out what works and what doesn't work for me. I know my low points, my weaknesses and I know better than anyone how I work. As I always say, and it is and remains a cliché, treating another as you would like to be treated yourself is the key. Unfortunately, I cannot control how someone else thinks, how they treat me and in what situations that has brought me. A lot has happened so that I have lost hope often enough, confidence has been damaged and I have often stood on the brink of collapse. Yet with time and awareness I have found my way back and I have kept my goal in mind. I want to show who I am, not how someone else presents me or treats me. I want to share how I think and how things can be improved, I want to help those who have experienced the same thing; I want to help make this world a better place, at least I want to try. When I was in a worse state, it was always something that was missing. Someone who understood me, who felt what I felt, who could articulate what was going on inside of me, someone who took care of me, someone who could guide me through the search and name of all the chaos inside of me. But when that person was not there, I only had two options, and I chose to fight. I wanted to discover who I was, what caused my thoughts, my questions and my emptiness, and how I could fill, name and express it, how I could find myself in the chaos, and make the chaos in the world change. I went through a development and growth that I never envisaged until a few years ago. lam an introvert, I am HSP (Highly Sensitive Person), someone with an extra sense, I see, feel and think deeply, intense and often. This has always been something that got in my way, and what I am uncertain about, I feel more vulnerable, because when you feel and experience everything so intensely, it can cause you enormous damage. I learned my lessons in this and formed my vision and passion. I want to help others see and feel that things can be different. Because it is possible, as long as you are willing to look at yourself with all pure and genuine intentions and to express this.

Without pain and struggle you wouldn't have strength and character. Without negative people you might not appreciate the positive people in your life. Without that rejection or break up you might not have been guided to something better. Without that person saying you couldn't do it, you might not have had the motivation to do it. Without sadness and depression you might lack the compassion and caring you have today. Without painful endings you may not have been led to that great new beginning. There is a reason and a purpose in everything, and a true blessing in everything if you can open your eyes to see it and open your heart to know it. Don't ask why me. Don't say I didn't deserve this. Ask how can I use this? How can this make me stronger, better, wiser? Use the pain in your life as fuel to take you wherever you need to go. Use the mess in your life as a blessing to take you some place better. Have faith and trust that some endings are sent for new beginnings. It might not feel great at the time, but keep your head up and be open to the fact that you deserve better and if you keep believing you'll get better. Be open to the fact that you can't see the rest of the puzzle just yet, but just trust it will be a masterpiece. All of us experience pain and hard times, only some of us use that pain to grow. Don't just go through it. Grow through it. It will make you better if you can find the courage inside you to keep going. Come out the other side of your pain stronger, better and wiser. Your greatest life can not be lived without the strength that comes from your struggles. Your best life cannot be lived without great challenges. Trust this is a part of life. Find the purpose in the pain. Be one of the few who see the message in the mess. Be one of the few who gain the strength through the struggle. Who see the blessing in the lessons.

You're Growing Even When You're Not Thinking About It You are still becoming who you were meant to be and this is also true: what if you don't always have to worry about becoming more of who you are? What if who you are right now is more than enough and it's just a matter of slowing down and realizing your worth? Learning to be still long enough to notice the grace that has always been there? Forward movement is a beautiful thing. Many of us are desperate for a beautiful future and there is nothing wrong with that. And this is also true: there is nothing wrong with slowness. All around you in nature, a billion different things move at a slow pace, just as they are supposed to. No flower is rushing to be somewhere else. No wave is pushing its way to the shore before its time. Even when the rain pours down quickly, it took time for that level of force to build up. Wherever you are right now, is enough. Whatever growth looks like right here is good, and it matters. I hope your heart continues to crave change, healing, and transformation and I also hope you remember the soil beneath your feet. The sun shining above you. The wind blowing around you. This is change, too. This is meaningful, too. You don't have to be a better version of yourself before you grow. Right here, you're enough. MHN

If no one told you this today - I am proud of you for the way that you care. Despite what you have been through at the hands of love, I am proud of you for having the courage to keep loving deeply in a world that sometimes fails to do so. I am proud of you for having the courage to believe that genuine connection still exists. I know how difficult it is to continue to be this kind of person when love hasn't always been kind to you. I know what it is like to have a heart that cannot stop pouring, to have a heart that sometimes feels like it is too much. I know that you can overthink your sensitivity, and I know that it can be something you have been convinced that you have to silence. But I am proud of your heart. There is something deeply beautiful when you discover the kind of person who makes you believe in the goodness of others. There is something deeply beautiful when it comes to seeing someone who is genuine, and kind - someone who makes people feel seen, someone who makes people feel deeply loved for who they are, in all of their light and all of their dark. It is beautiful to be the kind of person who cares. To be the kind of person who stays open, who believes in going deeper. Because we need souls like that. We need people like you in this world. We need softness, we need people who remind us of connection when we are all avoiding eye contact. I am proud of you for being this person in this world. The way that you love others is inspiring. You do not need to apologize for the way you feel. You do not need to apologize for how your heart exists here. There is courage in being the person who connects. There is bravery in staying open despite what you have been through. You should be proud of yourself for loving. Please don't ever stop.

THREE GENTLE REMINDERS I. Remember — the Universe gave up celestial pieces of itself to craft you. So much had to conspire in order for you to be here. So be here. Be here, and be exactly who you want to be. Create the art you want to create. Speak your heart into existence. Bloom where you are planted. Dig and dig and dig into the core of your passion, and hold on to whatever ignites something inside of you, hold onto whatever stirs your soul. Get to know yourself, and own it; never apologize for the way your heart beats against your chest. Never apologize for taking up space. Just be here. Just be here and remember — you were bred from the crashing, and folding of the Universe into itself. Life may be messy, but you were born from a chaos that existed between stars. The same energy flows through you. Turn it into art. Turn it into strength. Turn it into beauty, like it turned itself into you. II. No one will ever fully be able to understand the internal battles you had to endure just to heal, just to grow, just to make it here today. Be proud of the way you fought to save yourself. Be proud of the way you survived. III. Stay open. Please, just stay open - because when you close yourself off to potential hurt, you also close yourself off to potential awe, potential joy. When you assume that you will never be seen and accepted for who you truly are, you rob yourself of the opportunity to be known, to be surprised by those who will show up in your life and hold your heart the way you have always hoped for it to be held. Yes, being vulnerable may hurt you. But it may heal you. There is always that risk - but you are here to risk your heart. So risk it, because there are situations and human beings in this world of billions that will meet you where you are, that will make you aware of just how beautiful it is to be fully open and seen and unafraid of falling. There are moments you're going to connect with, small and intense and deeply special moments, that will stick to your bones and remind you why you tried, why you took the chance. And it is up to you to tuck those moments into yourself for safekeeping, it is up to you to always believe in that beauty. Because this world will never be void of dark, but that just means there will also always be light.

Learn to forgive yourself, for every time you acted against what you deserved, because you put someone else first. For all those days you spent alone with your phone in your hand, restless, refusing to ring the only person whom you wanted to hear from, because deep down you knew that they weren't going to pick up. For each night you spent wiping tears that dampened your pillow over people who couldn't take care of your heart. Learn to forgive yourself, for being soft in a world that didn't know what to do with a soul like yours, for taking time to learn that love is not pain. Love does not make you uncomfortable. Love is not unsure about you. Love is not wrapped up in apologies and band-aids to cover up all the scars that weren't there before they arrived. Love does not leave too soon or arrive when you no longer want it. Learn to forgive yourself, for thinking that love is all those things because those you love didn't know how to cherish you in return. Learn to forgive yourself, for questioning love rather than the people who didn't know how to carry the weigh of it in their hearts. Learn to forgive yourself, for trusting, hurting and breaking more than once over someone who wasn't worth it. And accept that with forgiveness comes a new chapter, with forgiveness comes hope that you have learned what you needed to, with forgiveness comes responsibility to trust yourself. With forgiveness comes the belief that you know what's right for you and from now on —you will never accept anything less than what you deserve. muky dhal

Please, just have the courage to let go of the people who leave your heart confused. Let go of the people who make you feel like you are compromising all that you desire, and all that you hope for, and all of the goodness and the beauty that you know exists in this world, for a skinny version of love. Let go of falling in love with potential, let go of falling in love with the idea of someone rather than who they truly are. Let go of the fears you have that keep you holding on to something that hurts, something that is so heavy, something that has only left you feeling misunderstood, or unworthy, or at war with yourself. Let go of waiting for the people you have always treated kindly, to treat you kindly. Let go of waiting for the people you have always treated with respect, to treat you with respect. Let go of waiting for the people you have always chosen, to finally choose you. Let go of waiting. Let go of holding your breath, just hoping that things change. Let go. Don't allow yourself to get comfortable existing in spaces where you know you deserve better. Love is not meant to hurt. Love is not meant to be given in bare minimums. Love does not require for you to be cooler, or less emotional, or less yourself, for you to be worthy of it meeting you. Love chooses you. In the good, and the bad. It isn't an almost thing. It isn't something you have to beg for. It isn't something you have to fight for constantly, something that is always a source of pain and confusion and hurt. There is power in letting go of anything that is forcing you to let go of yourself. Don't ignore what you know in your heart. Remember — it is better to be alone, than to feel lonely in what you're settling for. It is better to be alone, than to try to fit your heart into the hands of someone who does not want to hold it. It is better to be alone, than to fight for someone who is not fighting for you. It is better to be alone, to be your own foundation, than to spend any more of your time waiting for someone to see the beauty in what you are giving them. You deserve good love. Promise you will let go of anything that does not feel that way. Promise to stand up for your heart.