Letting Go

Today was different.

The sky opened up and let out the deepest downpour–

Like the earth was saying, “It’s time to let it go…”

But I didn’t know how, so I closed my eyes

And listened as the peaceful sound of rain

Washed the stains of my memories away.

What does it mean to let go?

Nature makes it look so easy,

But my mind likes to complicate things.

I’ve let this ball of insecurity stay in the pit of my stomach

As words like “job security” and “responsibilitiy”

Weigh me down in this back pack filled with bricks and blank books.

I want to take it off, dig a hole, and tuck it away from the rest of the world,

Because no one deserves to feel the burden of that weight

Or see the damage it has caused.

No one deserves to feel that loss.

Loss

I feel a loss—

But loss sounds a lot like lack.

Lack of security 

Lack of confidence in my identity 

And lack of consistent thinking,

Because I am losing a sense of self 

By searching for belonging in someone else.

Loss sounds a lot like help.

I want someone or something to help me find the words I need 

To validate my emotions and expression 

Because I am used to asking permission 

For those things.

Loss sounds a lot like death.

Like something in me has died, and I can’t find myself 

My words and movements are repetitions I use to look like everybody else 

Too afraid or scared to say a word that will turn into an argument I am not ready to fight 

Loss sounds a lot like my thoughts,

A mixture of chaos and movement,

In a constant wave of up and down

As I try to figure out what is

And what is not.

Loss is myself.

I haven’t figured out how to see myself through a lens that isn’t clouded by “good” or “bad” judgments.

I haven’t felt the self esteem rising through my bloodstream to remind me of my wholeness. 

The only piece of me that feels confident is expressing my lack of it in my writing.

I feel lost.

Misscommunication

When I am around you,

I feel lost.

Maybe it’s because of the thoughts I have

That drown out what is real,

And what is not–

Maybe it’s my mouth replacing the air with water,

Heavy in my lungs–

 

I’m afraid of what will come up

Once I try to connect the words in my mind

To the sounds in my throat.

I feel closed.

 

I want to protect my heart from the heavy weight I hold

When I see you,

But I’ve realized I can’t see you.

How can I see you when I can’t see myself,

Or when I look around and find no familiarity in my surroundings?

Grey is now permeating everything I see—

So first, it starts with me.

 

I choose to remove the weight

And look forward to my day.

I focus on being present

When the past is pressing in on all sides,

Forcing me to hide.

 

I focus on having patience

When I feel wasted by

The people surrounding me on a daily basis.

 

I focus on communication,

And protecting my mind and my heart

from the forces around me asking me to change who I am

For them,

Because I am worth it.

 

I will say it over and over again,

That I am who I am,

Fallen and imperfect.

I love the cracks in my hands and freckles on my skin,

And the excitement I get from a small moment.

 

I ask nothing to forgive,

I only ask for a conversation,

Not a misinterpretation.

 

I ask for someone to see me past expectation.

See me as a living and breathing human who is prone to making mistakes.

See me as you would see yourself at the end of the day—

As a person.

Don’t Leave Me in the Dark

Sometimes I smile out of habit.

 

I don’t notice when it’s dishonest,

Because I’m so used to convincing myself it’s true.

You can fake it so much that it turns into your reality,

Even when you are pretending.

 

But sometimes pretending seems more familiar to me than reality.

I continue repeating and hearing the sound over and over again—

Feeling the stretch across my skin—

Feeling the void of emotion—

“Please forgive me.”

 

My thoughts cry for forgiveness from this notion

That I will never be good enough to

Measure up and be the version of perfect

I want to see—

Or feel in my body.

 

Maybe perfection would give me peace,

Or maybe it would destroy me completely.