As someone who spent years trying to serve from an empty cup, it has been a humbling journey of unraveling the layers and stories of who I thought I had to be, to reveal who I actually am.
Is this something that you can relate to, too?
My intention is create and hold space for others to feel safe enough to unravel and rewrite their own stories in the same liberating way.
So, thank you—over and over again.
It’s because of courageous souls like you that I am who I am today.
This poem is for you, for me, and for us.
~
I must confess
I am a
flowers just because
phone calls instead of texts
burritos and sunsets
post it notes, “hi beautiful”…
kind of romantic.
And may I admit something else, too?
It took a long time to get to this point,
really.
The point where
holding a gaze
with the person in front of me
wasn’t intimidating.
That shift when
holding a gaze
with the person in the mirror
wasn’t a catalyst for
dissecting every freckle,
every “mistake,”
every scar,
every decision…
or lack of.
And I am still in the practice of allowing more
love in my life.
Yes, yes!
The big kind of love.
The love that I have been waiting for
my entire life.
The flowers just because love,
phone calls just because love,
burritos and sunsets just because love,
and the post it notes,
“you are beautiful” just because love.
Remember how it always starts with you?
Act to attract.
That point where
holding a gaze
with the person in front of you
is inspiring.
That shift when
holding a gaze
with the person in the mirror
is a catalyst for that.
Thank you for showing up,
love.
I am, because you are.
~
Author: Chloé Hom Bañales
Image: Courtesy of Deepak Kanda
Editor: Nicole Cameron
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Beautiful <3
Thank you. As someone whose default reaction to seeing myself in a mirror is a sigh of disappointment, this really moved me. Thanks for posting this.