I am not your job or your lover.

I am not your bank account or your car.

I am not your diplomas or the newspaper articles they have written about you. I am not your intellect or your beauty.

I am not something you lose or something you find.

I am not a prize to be won.

I’m not tomorrow or yesterday. I can’t be stolen or borrowed.

I am a child’s hand, reaching for you as you walk down the street.

I am the friend who stays awake through the night to comfort you when you are afraid.

I am the neighbor who brings you soup when you are ill.

I am your guitar, your violin, your voice singing across the desert on a full moon night.

I am the dance you do when you’re alone.

I am laughter.

I am the old man who held the door for you yesterday.

I am everyone you have ever known and everything you have ever done.

Every one you will ever meet, every place you will ever go and everything you will ever do.

Be still—if you look for me, I am here.

I am everywhere.

I am happiness.

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Editor: Rachel Nussbaum

Photo: Andrew Mylko (used with permission)