I remember hearing about Beau Taplin from a brokenhearted friend.

Deep in his misery, he had come across this writer’s words on Instagram and devoured each and every one of them.

As humans, we often feel solitary in our life experiences and then we read a piece of writing that makes us feel like someone else has taken our hand and walked through it with us.

Someone we don’t even know, who is sometimes separated from us by an ocean. I live in South Africa and Beau Taplin is a born and bred Australian who weaves pure magic with his words. Starting his career in song writing, he then followed his heart, and found it in poetry.

I was entirely smitten from the very first piece I read, and every single one I have since then has resonated on some level—and I can’t help but wonder if Beau Taplin’s soul is a very old one.

His words are always centered around the most important part of being human, the heart, and its pursuits. I hope you find as much inspiration as I have from him:

1. “Listen to me, your body is not a temple. Temples can be destroyed and desecrated. Your body is a forest—thick canopies of maple trees and sweet scented wildflowers sprouting in the underwood. You will grow back, over and over, no matter how badly you are devastated.”

2. “She was unstoppable. Not because she did not have failures or doubts, but because she continued on despite them.”

3. “There’s a corner of my heart that is yours. And I don’t mean for now, or until I’ve found somebody else, I mean forever. I mean to say that whether I fall in love a thousand times over or once or never again, there’ll always be a small quiet place in my heart that belongs only to you.”

4. “Self love is an ocean
and your heart is a vessel. Make it full,
and any excess will spill over
into the lives of the people
you hold dear. But you must come first.”

5. “I’m not interested in light little flings, skin-deep attractions, or long loveless marriages. With you, I only want raw, full-blooded connection, to share a bond full of passion and breathtaking adventure. After all, love is not a pastime but a privilege.”

6. “In the night, I am kept awake by the endless chatter of my inner self. I hear it speak softly of old hurts and fondly of past loves, while its demands and anxieties resound throughout me in multitudes. I could be calm and composed all day long, but the moment it is dark, my mind riots.”

7. “We sit in silence and watch the stars, I suppose because there are no words, not in all the languages on earth, that can properly describe the feeling of being in love. And perhaps those little burning lights out there in the dark, are the closest we come to something that does.”

8. “I am awfully sentimental. Of books, belongings, people, places. It matters very little how positive or negative the experience was. If it shared some meaningful time in my life, I’ll have trouble letting go.”

9. “I’m beginning to recognise that real happiness isn’t something large and looming on the horizon ahead, but something small, numerous and already here. The smile of someone you love. A decent breakfast. The warm sunset. Your little everyday joys all lined up in a row.”

10. “I think the beating in our hearts was put there to remind us that even when we are alone in the world, we march on. That even in the enormous dark and quiet, we always have someone to lean on, to embrace and turn to. That even when we have no one else, we always have ourselves.”

Author: Amanda Van Graan
Image: Annie Spratt / Unsplash 
Editor: Sara Kärpänen
Copy editor: Travis May