You're allowed

 from Xylia Asteria, posted by Nona

You're allowed to talk about what they did to you

You're allowed to talk about what they did to you

You're allowed to talk about what they did to you

You're allowed to talk about what they did to you

You're allowed to talk about what they did to you

You're allowed to talk about what they did to you

If they didn't want you talking about it, maybe they shouldn't have done it.

Stardust

 From butterflies rising

soulmate stardust...

the universe puts

little bits of stardust in them;

memory dust...soul traces...so we can know.

ones that say things like...

i remember you. i've been looking for you.

i couldn't come here and not find you...

i had to find you. i am for you.

and when we're near them,

they don't have to say a thing;

we feel it in our senses...

we just know.

Serendipity

serendipity

one night a star exploded

and it split right in to two

and each part became a person

one was me and one was you

we shimmered down to Earth

and lived our individual lives

but one day serendipity

decided we'd collide

your face felt so familiar

and every time you spoke

it sounded like a harmony

a song I'd always known

it was like you were an ocean

that I wanted to explore

but the waves I surfed, the depths I swam

I felt I'd swum before

it was just like I knew nothing

and yet everything as well

as if me getting to know you

helped me get to know myself

I think the universe intended

and had planned it all along

to return me to your ocean

to your face and to your song

see, it's not that you completed me

for I was never half

but it seems like the stardust in our souls

could not be kept apart

~Becky Hemsley

Finitude

 Let each sunrise

be an invitation

to live more fully.

Let every sunset find in you

a grateful and reflective heart.

These days will not last forever.

They are precious

in their finitude.

~John Mark Green

Three things

You can tell a lot

about a person

by the way they handle

these three things:

a rainy day, lost luggage, and

tangled Christmas lights.

~Maya Angelou

No one crueler

To whom do I owe

the biggest apology?

No one's been crueler

than I've been

to me.

~Alanis Morissette

One letter

loving and losing:

different only by

one letter and 

a million degrees of pain.

~jessica katoff

Dissolve

 I feel like at this point,

if I unclench my jaw and

relax my shoulders I will

probably dissolve like

cotton candy in the rain.

~Sooz

A mess

What a mess

I have made

with nothing

but an idea

that I

am not enough.

~Chloe Frayne

Some other life

In some other life

We are standing

Side by side and

Laughing that,

In some other life

We are apart.

Ever wanted

All she

ever wanted

was unpredictable 

kisses

and 

unforgettable

laughter.

~Brandon Villasenor

A smile shined

Just yesterday you walked into my

life and shared a moment. And when

I look back on it all, I'll sit

back and remember that somewhere

between the first and last day, a 

smile shined and I fell in love.

~Jay Long

Shine

 They ask me

why I shine so bright:

This is what happens

when scars turn

to light.

~Nathalie

Alive a little

When I am gone, do not fear my memory.

Do not be afraid to speak my name or look through

old photographs.

Do not be scared to play old videos so that you might hear

my voice and see me laughing.

Do not be wary of visiting my favourite places or eating my

favourite foods or singing along to my favourite songs.

I know it will hurt. Those memories will remind you that I 

am gone.

They will stab at you like a knife in an open, gaping wound.

Raw, excruciating pain.

But after a while the knife will become less sharp, the

wound will become less open and the pain will become less

raw.

And those memories will remind you that I was here.

That I lived.

Do not reduce my life to my death.

Speak my name, hear my voice, sing my favourite songs

and visit my favourite places.

Because that's how I can stay alive a little.

Right here with you.

~Becky Hemsley Poetry

The same

When all you know 

is fight or flight,

red flags and butterflies

all feel the same.

~Cindy Cherie

Their life

 Don't look at the fruit of their gift, look

at the fruit of their life.

~Scott Ross Ligertwood

Abundance

Abundance

By Amy Schmidt

(in memory of Mary Oliver)

It's impossible to be lonely

when you're zesting an orange.

Scrape the soft rind once

and the whole room

fills with fruit.

Look around: you have

more than enough.

Always have.

You just didn't notice

until now.

The future

 FIND ME IN THE FUTURE

In the future

You will find me waiting

In a little cottage by the sea

My field of sunflowers

Will have reached their way up

To touch the turquoise sky

I will have left the kettle on for you

And a little candle in the window

And we will laugh about

How we thought for a moment

Everything was lost

When all you needed to do was

Find me

In the Future

~Aurora Raine, The Hero and the Healer

Never forget

 LAST WORDS

"Never forget me,"

you said,

as if the coast

could forget the ocean,

or the lung

could forget the breath,

or the Earth

could forget the sun.

~Beau Taplin

Too good

He made you feel

like you weren't good enough

to keep you from finding out

that you were too good for him.

~alex dullforce

Loud enough

I agree I can no longer let my

insecurities silence the good thing 

between us, but in trade-off, I need a

love that is loud enough to also bully

my insecurities into silence.

~Pierre Jeanty

Years

 there are years that

ask questions and 

years that answer

~zora neale hurston

Always

 You are always here, and always gone. That is grief.

Poor hand

 Life is not a

matter of holding

good cards, but

sometimes, playing 

a poor hand well.

~Jack London

No intentions

 From Hidden Gems

Falling in love with someone

you had no intention of falling for,

is the most beautiful kind of love.

No forcing chemistry,

or trying to save them.

Just a pure,

raw connection

created on its own.

Toxic

 From Philo Thoughts

Not all toxic people are cruel and uncaring. Some of them

love us dearly. Many of them have good intentions. Most

are toxic to our being simply because their needs and way

of existing in the world force us to compromise ourselves

and our happiness. They aren't inherently bad people, but

they aren't the right people for us. And as hard as it is, we

have to let them go. Life is hard enough without being

around people who bring you down, and as much as you

care, you can't destroy yourself for the sake of someone

else. You have to make your wellbeing a priority. Whether

that means breaking up with someone you care about,

loving a family member from a distance, letting go of a 

friend, or removing yourself from a situation that feels 

painful - you have every right to leave a create a safer

space for yourself.

~Daniell Koepke

she

she.

you won't fit her into a box.

she doesn't do well with the

confines and shapes and

expectations of the world.

she knows the rules but would

rather write her own. she is

rebellious but only in the

name of revolution. she thinks

too much. she dreams too much.

and she feels too much. she is

more wild than captured. more

crazy than sensible. and more

forgiveness than hurt. she

believes in loving. and living.

and getting things free.

she is me.

~ullie-kaye

Understatement

 Worth reposting....

You are the finest,

loveliest, tenderest,

and most beautiful

person I have ever known-

and even that

is an understatement.

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Be clear

 A simple way to improve your life:

Be clear on who gets your time,

who gets your energy,

and who gets mothing.

~Cory Allen

Rock bottom

 Rock bottom has

built more champions

than privilege ever did.

The inside

 Sometimes, the

scars on the inside

take longer to heal

than the ones on the

outside.

Worth it

 Apply for that job. Date that person.

Buy that plane ticket. Move to that

city. Do all the things that scare you,

because they're worth it.

Actual apology

 The words "I'm sorry" are

a formal declaration of intent.

Changed behavior is the actual apology.

Two lives

We have two lives, and the 

second begins when we

realize we only have one.

~Confucius

Always beautiful

Maybe we didn't know 

each other like we

believed and maybe

we never did.

But I want you to know

that whatever my mind

made you into, it was 

always beautiful.

~JmStorm

Total capacity

 From I Was Never Broken, Vol. 2

MARCH 15, 2021

4:15 PM

You didn't know what it's like to love all of

me at total capacity. I hid a lot of who I was

to make you comfortable. I dimmed my

passions to let you have your moments. I let

go of people I loved to be in your presence.

I know now that's not what love is; that's

codependency. I loved you as much as I

could, to the depths I knew I could, to try

and keep you happy through all the spirals

of our moments together. I held the weight 

when it came to recovering every heartache

after every misunderstanding.

Let go

 I let go of people

I wanted to keep around forever.

To me,

that's become my biggest strength.

If you know me,

you know my heart's big

and my love is unconditional.

If I let you go,

it was for reasons

that don't need explanation,

other than it wasn't me,

It was you.

~From I Was Never Broken

They hear you

 Idk who needs to hear this right now,

but they hear you from heaven. They

hear everything you're telling them,

and they are so proud of you...and

they miss you so so much too.

Change the price

 You are allowed to change the 

price of what it costs to

access you.

Mood is down

 maturity is knowing that when

your mood is down you should not

trust the way you see yourself

~yung pueblo

When I'm gone

WHEN I'M GONE

When I come to the end of my journey

And I travel my last weary mile,

Just forget if you can, that I ever frowned

And remember only the smile.

Forget unkind words I have spoken;

Remember some good I have done,

Forget that I ever had a heartache

And remember I've had loads of fun.

Forget that I have stumbled and blundered

And sometimes fell by the way.

Remember I have fought

Some hard battles and won,

Ere the close of the day.

Then forget to grieve for my going,

I would not have you sad for a day,

But in summer just gather some flowers

And remember the place where I lay

And come in the evening

When the sun paints the sky in the west,

Stand for a few moments beside me

And remember only my best.

Profound unawareness

 From Many Phases And Faces Of a Mother's Grief

As I closed my eyes to sleep that night

I did not know I would wake in the morning

and you would not

As I closed my eyes to sleep that night

I did not know you would take your last breath

and your beautiful heart would stop beating

As I closed my eyes to sleep that night

I did not know that the truth of that

day had eluded me,

and I lived that day with a profound

unawareness of the irreversible life

shattering change that was about

to take place

As I closed my eyes to sleep that night

I did not know the sun had set on your last day

As I closed my eyes to sleep that night

I did not know

~Louise Rees

The next room

From Parents in Heaven

"I hope death is like

being carried to your bedroom

when you were a child

& fell asleep on the couch

during a family party.

I hope you can hear the laughter

from the next room."

~Lilies Abounded

Held

she needed to be held

in a way that was

rarely understood.

in the way that one

needs when they've 

been falling apart

for years.

~JmStorm

Parent wisdom

Wisdom is pulling up to every one of your kids events in a 

$10,000 vehicle, instead of making 3 events a year in your

$80,000 vehicle.

Wisdom is being home every night with your family in your

single wide mobile home, instead of being home with your

family 2 nights a week in your mansion.

What I've come to realize is this: "It's not about what I can

afford, it's about what I can't afford to miss because you

never know when your life will end."

~Author unknown

Little girl

There's a little girl

within me who still

thinks that if she's

quiet enough, that if

she behaves enough,

that if today, she's just

enough to be good

enough, that someone

will come back for her.

But the woman I've

grown into knows now,

no is going back

for her, except me.

~Tanya Markul

(Side note: And God)

Illusion

let go

of the illusion

that it

could have been

any different.

Until

I will love you

as long as the sun

burns in the sky,

as long as the moon

shines its light

into the dark night.

Until the raging 

blue oceans

become calm 

and run dry,

I will love you until 

the end of time.

~Christy Ann Martine

True bliss

True bliss

is falling asleep

beside the one

you dreamed of.

~Mark Anthony Poet

Loudest way

Making someone feel

seen, heard and understood

is the loudest way

to love them.

~wild faith

Good woman

 Do you know how badly you have to hurt a good

woman for her to still love you, but just not care

anymore? How much pain she had to endure, to

finally flip that switch, and just stop feeling?

How many tears and sleepless nights it took,

before she finally gave up?

Yeah...I didn't think so.

~Christie L. Starkweather

She chose

 SHE CHOSE

She realized she had this one.

This big, bold

and beautiful life.

And she realized

she didn't want to live it

chasing and crying

and apologizing.

Starving and fearing

and regretting.

She realized

she wanted to live it

proudly and freely

and creatively.

Lovingly and fully

and sweetly.

She realized

she could choose.

And so, she chose.

Is beautiful

She was beautiful

but not like

those girls in magazines.

She was beautiful

for the sparkle in her eyes

when she talked about

something she loved.

She was beautiful

for her ability 

to make other people smile,

even if she was sad.

No, she wasn't beautiful

for something as

temporary as her looks.

She was beautiful,

deep down to her soul.

She is beautiful.

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

The lasts

I will never be

the first

of so many things

for you. I came too late,

after life and love

were woven into the

tapestry

of your existence. I care not

about lost firsts,

but I will fight, knuckles

bloody and teeth sharpened,

for your lasts.

Take the old firsts

and put them to rest,

silent below the dirt

and ash of all the new ones

we will burn through.

Take them, but

give me the 

lasts.

~Tyler Knott Gregson

Fairytales

the love

we were promised

in fairytales

was never something

for us to find

it has always

been something

for us to create.

~tyler kent white 

Still stay

 

Some love stories never start,

but they still stay a love story.

~Rahul Kaushik

No heartbeat

 
"There is no heartbeat"...

and in that moment the

earth stops spinning and the

air feels hard to breathe.

~Zoe Clark-Coates

Stars on fire

 I hope you're up there in the heavens.

Giving the darkness a run for its money.

I hope you're setting stars on fire.

No type

 You can absolutely fall in love

with a person who is not your type.

There is no type in love.

There is only love. And it's magic.

~Rahul Kaushik

All of me

she wanted the bones

in my body, she wanted

my soul and my mind.

and i gave it to her,

all of me, all at once.

i didn't care. she 

deserved it. she deserved 

more.

sometimes a strong woman

just needs to be loved.

~r.m. drake

Choose you

I choose you.

love me wild-eyed or weary.

full of ocean and full of

dry land. half broken, and

half mending. quiet and

mysterious or spilling over

and telling you absolutely

everything. love me meek

and love me mighty. because sometimes

I am a boat, rocked to my core

by the storm. an avalanche.

a hurricane. and in advance,

i'm sorry. love me free and love

me bound to my downfalls but

trying. when light glistens

off my skin and when i stumble

into darkness. love me holy.

and sinful. and bleeding.

and healed. love me sweetly.

i have bruised your spirit.

in all of my life, i have found

no greater thing than to be

chosen. and so, with that,

i choose you, too.

~ullie-kaye 

No motivation

 When there is no

consequence for poor

work ethic, and no reward

for good work ethic, there 

is no motivation.

Belonging

 It's never about

 belonging to 

someone,

it's about 

belonging

together.

~Renee Ahdieh

Giving tree

 Posted by Ravenous Butterflies

"...And after a long time the boy came back again.

"I am sorry, Boy," said the tree, "but I have nothing left to 

give you-

My apples are gone."

"My teeth are took weak for apples," said the boy.

"My branches are gone," said the tree.

"I am too old to swing on branches," said the boy.

"My trunk is gone," said the tree.

"You cannot climb-"

"I am too tired to climb," said the boy.

"I am sorry," said the tree.

"I wish that I could give you something...but I have nothing

left. I am an old stump. I am sorry..."

"I don't need very much now," said the boy, "just a quiet

place to sit and rest. I am very tired."

"Well," said the tree, straightening himself up as much as

she could,

"well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come,

Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest."

And the boy did.

And the tree was happy."

~Shel Silverstein - The Giving Tree, 1964

Parallel

Parallel

I often think about

How different life would be

If we met at the right time.

If we collided when the

Celestial guides deemed fit

In other timelines and parallel universes,

I wonder if we did accomplish that goal.

If we followed the stars that lead us

To each other at the right time.

But, we are stuck in this timeline.

In this universe.

And it has always been you.

It will always be...

You.

Hold me

Just this once, just for now,

throw everything down and hold

me...throw everything 

down and just be here.

I have never needed anything

more than I need you now.

I'm waiting.

~Stephanie Bennett-Henry

Meaningful work

 Instead of asking, "Have I worked

hard enough to deserve to rest?,"

I've started asking, "Have I rested

enough to do my most loving and

meaningful work?"

~Nicola Jane Hobbs

Never said

 What Jesus never said:

 "Feed the hungry only if they have papers."

 "Clothe the naked only if they're from your country." 

"Welcome the stranger only if there's zero risk."

 "Help the poor only if it's convenient."

 "Love your neighbor only if they look like you."

~James Martin, S.J.

Reduced

 You may not control

all the events that happen

to you, but you can decide

not to be reduced by

them.

~Maya Angelou

Unwavering love

You've mistaken her unwavering love for 

chains that will forever keep her shackled

to your feet.

Don't be so naive; she only follows after

love. Where love isn't present, she may

linger but will eventually flee.

Worth the pain

 Everyone in life is going to

hurt you. You just have to

figure out which people are

worth the pain.

~Bob Marley

Dark places

 One of the hardest lessons I've ever learned,

is that I stayed in so many dark places

because I believe I deserved

to be there when I didn't.

~Just A Poet Only