Shards and Pieces.

“Sometimes, you have to self-destruct in order to self-discover, and understand that the only person you have to let go… is you.”

R.M. Drake

Wow.

Like really, wow.

How many times do we have to hear that before we’ll actually give into it?

If we’re being brutally, magically honest with ourselves, we are unequivocally terrified to examine the fragments of thread holding ourselves together.

I may not be particularly old.

I may not be particularly wise.

But in my short time on this planet, I’ve observed something which seems to govern the entire human condition:

If you desire to live life to the maximum capacity, you must lose it.

And I don’t mean you need to end your life or crumble up all your idiosyncrasies and cast them into the winds.

But you truly must be willing to (and actually, at times) tear off pieces of who you’ve always thought you are and smash them on the ground.

Then, you must purge your mind of these preconceived notions of who you’re “supposed to be” and never look back at the shards.

Because who you think you’re supposed to be and who you are will almost always differ.

And that’s okay.

But I think it’s difficult for us to see this.

Because we’ve drown our own beauty in the well-wishes of others, in the contradictory expectations of those who claim to love us and those who claim to own us.

We’ve allowed their visions for our lives to wash in and {often} overtake our own visions.

While the visions of others may not be inherently bad and may not even be intentionally selfish, they are.

They are given one life, just as you are, just as I am.

And except for rare instances, it is not their job to see for someone else.

Which means, they have no right to cast their wishes for your life onto you, no matter how well intentioned they may be.

I say all this to say: perhaps it is time.

Time to look at those threads holding your dreams together.

To look at the expectations you have for yourself.

The dreams, the fears, the things which make you feel despair, anger, guilt, pride, joy.

And look them in both eyes with unveiled sight, proclaiming what they truthfully are.

Because if they’re your dreams, your guidelines, your messiness, that’s perfectly wonderful.

But if they’re someone else’s restrictions, someone else’s dreams, someone else’s messes you continue to clean, you need to stop.

You need to find your own sight.

Your eyes are your own.

Use them.

When you do, you empower others to do the same.

And you discover that the pieces you are required to lose in this process were never really meant to fit into your skin to begin with.