Author: Bethany Howard
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Unraveled.
I thought things were under control – until they weren’t and I am still unsure exactly where it all unraveled, how I came to the end of myself. And yet that’s where I ended up. At the end of myself. It would seem that at one’s end There Would Be Nothing. But you were there.…
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You are a warrior.
You are a warrior. You’ve walked a tightrope – steady – the balance between hope and grief, joy and pain, digging in and letting go. You’ve trusted. And you didn’t fall. Somehow you found a way to be present in the midst of holding so much. How did you manage to dance on a tightrope?…
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Hey, skinny jeans.
Hey, skinny jeans. I know that you have felt my absence. It’s nothing personal… I still like you. I also like breathing. Things have changed in the last 10 months and what was once ‘fit like a glove’ is now painful contortion. It’s not you. It’s me. You can’t encompass the results of my coping…
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Bloom for real
I planted silk flowers in my garden in my quest for beauty. They don’t fool anyone for long. They look garish and cheap even when the sun shines. When I make a show and water their plastic roots with my polkadot watering can they are still dead. It’s not real beauty. Counterfeit beauty is an…
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Follow hope’s lead
hope is present in upheaval hope makes itself known hope can’t be shut out covered up quieted the signposts of hope will surprise you and you will find hope in places you don’t anticipate stay expectant watch for it when hope shows up don’t discount it don’t argue with it follow its lead it will…
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Set your permissions
Have you noticed that our world requires us to set permissions? In order for something to work for us, we have to to give it the go ahead to work with the other things in our lives so that it can do for us what it is supposed to do. If we don’t set permissions…
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Hope made a way
The pieces don’t fit. I want to finish this puzzle so that it makes sense. It’s a mess and there are pieces missing so I am not sure why I keep going. I am losing hope that I will ever see the complete picture. I am missing pieces. I am not where I thought I…
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Is there evidence?
Dappled light highlights the shapes made by the peeling bark on the crepe myrtle trees. I go for a closer look. I am enamored by the light, by the tree. Its cracking, its peeling. I’m in awe of the metamorphosis of such a large specimen. This is how it grows. Crepe myrtles shed last year’s…
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as long as it takes
can you feel it the air is heavy frustration is palpable words float in the air the song of justice will not be silenced pain seeps into lungs into breath into words injustice has legs and will march as long as it takes this righteous anger is not new chains still exist free? is the …
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Imperfect is real
Imperfect is real. Perfection renders us counterfeit, forces us to conceal. Don’t give in to the pressure that the world serves up because we need real more than we need a show. We need soft hearts in tune. We need bodies ready to work. We need open minds on the same page. We need blood,…
