You are the most precious thing!

Hey Y'all - I know I have not posted in more than a week.  I promise I have countless drafts to catch up on, it has just been one of those times in life where it feels like this one day has been 3000 hours long.  Life happens - we do the best we can!  This message though - I needed to get out, even at the 2999th hour!  these words have all been said before, even by myself.  But, they are important and they are about to pour like water out of my fingertips...

So, I was talking to a friend, catching up, and we were discussing a very heavy topic that I recently went through.  I said, "There will forever be a before and after that day making me acutely aware of the sensitivity I now have towards this person and the topic."

She said, "Isn't that real life though?  That rawness of knowing we could lose someone or experience a trauma in the blink of an eye.  The reality is that it is possible at any given time, we just live taking it for granted a lot the time."

This statement brought a flood of tears and is so fucking true.  A snap reminder.  We exist knowing at any time we could suffer or lose someone whether permanently or in the form of a break.  At the exact same time, we tend to overlook the idea that it would actually happen.

The before that day is really no different than the day after, it is simply my knowledge of it, the awareness of what I was overlooking and consequently then, my reaction to it.

The revelation, which is more like a reminder is that even in this trauma, in the shit few weeks of life, in the darkest of hours, there exist those opportunities to remember how beautiful and fragile this life is.  To be specifically aware of not running on auto-pilot and to take each passing moment to really live.  To really love.

Your fingerprint never fades from a life you have touched.  Make sure it doesn't leave a bruise.

We cannot predict the future, and we certainly cannot live in the fear of catastrophic events possibly happening.  That terror is too much.  But what we can do is continue to live very purposefully.  To acknowledge that every single one of us carries enough burdens to not be another one to each other.

To tell everyone you love that you do.  Not just in words but in your time, your attention, and your intention.

To put the phone down when it matters.

To also pick it up and call if it has just been too long.

To be there when you are called on.

To rejuvenate and give yourself grace when you need that.

To pay it forward not just in money and to be kind just because that shit is free and easy.

To stop comparing and undermining what we are all feeling, or not, and which ones should or should not have merit.

To remember that thriving is better than just surviving, but if that's all you can do, surviving is pretty fucking profound too.

Sending an enormous amount of love out to each and every one of you, wherever you are.

XX

T