For you, right where you are.

I can't make you believe anything that I have to say. I can't sit you down and force you to let these words enter your mind and sink deep into your heart the way that I wish so desperately that I could.

All I have is this. All I have are these words that spill onto this page like the ink from the octopus as it moves into safety. You're safe. You are here.

I know that things aren't always easy. Believe me, I've been in the 2am moments with tear stains on pillowcases and feeling like your heart is only made of shattered glass and brokenness. I've held my head in my hands and walked through the loneliness that ached so deep I never once thought about making it to the other side of it. But here I am. Right here. Right now. With you. In this beautiful, sacred place where we can both take a moment to breathe deep. I did make it through those days. And though my hands may be bruised, and my shoulders aren't as strong as they once were, I'm still right. here. Let me listen. Let me carry this one for a while.

I want you to know how proud I am of you. It is important that you remember that you are the one who has made it to here. You are the one who felt the tile against your face as you sobbed into the unfeeling floor, and you are the one who picked yourself up and kept moving forward in spite of it all. You are the one who has lived through all that heartache, even the moments when you just knew it would never hurt any less. You are the one who has faced every single fear and right now you have just shattered your personal best in consecutive days alive. And I am so proud of you. You are brave. And strong. And you can do this... this life.

Know that there will be hard days. There really just is no way around that one, I'm sorry to say. There will be days when it seems impossible to keep stepping forward and days when it seems that all of your progress has unraveled. There will be days that bring you to your knees, and days that knock the wind out of you. But those are the days that remind you how to be thankful on the days when you are standing. And you can stand. You have the ability to hold your own on your very two feet. Just take a second and look back. Look at how many moments that have led to now that you have been brave enough to do just that. You've carried yourself here, step after step after step. And on the days where it seems the sun has stopped shining, when the darkness washes over you like a too-tall wave, please know that I'm right here. Take my hand. Let me remind you that it is in those moments that the world can most brightly see the astonishing light of your very being.

I know this world has let you down. I know that people have abused your tired soul. I know that you think that it really can't all be worth it, but believe me dear when I tell you that absolutely, without a doubt, living is worth every sweet second. You may not get to choose where you come from. You can't go back and change the way that things have happened until now. But it is never, ever too late to begin again. Start over if that is what you need. Take a deep breath and remind yourself that today is the first day of the rest of your whole life. You have your whole life ahead of you. You will meet people and people will gracefully exit the place that they now hold in your life, but do not mistake this for being a bad thing. Life comes in seasons, the same way the years do. They will take your breath away, these years. You have earned the right to see them through. Don't forget that the only constant through these years is you, though. Other people will splice through the line that is your time here, but you are the only constant. You are the one who has to live with the person that you are creating every moment. So stay true to who you are. Love yourself. I know how much easier that was for me to type than for you to imagine actually being able to do, but it can happen. Just give it a chance. Don't become someone else for a person whose timeline merely intersects with yours.

I think the truth is that sometimes, you just have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.
And the breaking doesn't feel all that wonderful and sometimes the shards of glass can feel like a knife carving away parts of you that you were sure you needed but know that the only way to make a mosaic is to begin with the broken pieces. And, oh, the masterpiece I see in you. Just wait. Hold on because I can guarantee that one day, you'll see it too. You're stunning, my dear.

And of what I've borrowed from both science and poetry, I know this:
When stars are created, there first must be an explosion, and a gaseous nebula must collapse.
Collapse.
A catastrophe in the beginning turns into someone's granted wish.
Know that this is not the end for you.
This is not your destruction.
This is the beginning.

You have so much to offer this world.
Keep your chin up, darling... if not, the crown falls.
I believe in you.

-S.