Let’s talk about honesty. Everybody has stories to tell and secrets to keep. Last I checked… yes! I have some of my own! Thankfully, they’re still there, right where I left them. I don’t know what I’d do if a single one of those little buggers found their wanton way out into the world. But, why?

Why is it that I’m worried about people knowing my secrets? Bitter relics of my past? Tiny slices of a less baked pie? An unwoven cloth of unfinished fabrics, from unassembled fibers? Thankfully, not all at once.

We hold back our full selves since we have barely enough strength to hold our own shoulders up. We keep it inside because if we can barely hang on, we cannot expect others to carry a fraction of our weight. The humane solution is to withhold and refuse to engage our entirety with those we love. Now, how does that make sense?

We’re at arms’ length at all times from those who would cherish us. We’re at our breaking point, stifling our screams, and those who we would hold close cannot approach us for our own fears getting in the way. Why do we push ourselves to a civil normalcy? Why do we let those fears determine our moves. It’s because our past has dictated our future for far too long. It’s because we remember the patterns that have shaped our hard edges.

It’s because we are afraid to prove ourselves right, that we are wrong. Push hard. Struggle. Reach out not with fear, but with an understanding of the risks we take. And again. And again. And you will find what you came for, even if it wasn’t the answer you were given first, second, or tenth. You can make the difference in your life. Not because you deserve it. You can make the difference in your life, because you need to be there for yourself before others.