Real Strength

    I have spent years suffering in silence. Exposing only what I had to when I reached a point that I couldn't hold it alone anymore. I have been terrified of living with a label, having others view me as less than. I have held more guilt than any three people should. I have beat myself down, and been the biggest liar and bully, to my own heart and soul. I have spent more than half my life hiding from, being ashamed of, running from the fact that I have PTSD.
     It seems silly, that I am only just now seeing that this does not define me. Just now looking outside the walls I created. It seems silly that I have been freely giving my power away for years.
Yet, here I am.
    I don't think I am alone in this. I think a great deal of us are suffering alone, in silence, with this massive monster.
It is easy to shut down and feel alone in a  society where we are expected to be on 24/7. It is a common perception that we are somehow weak if  we don't get our shit together quickly and move forward. This perception still exists because we participate in it, therefore making it a reality. I have made it my reality for years. I pretended, sucked it up, painted on a smile and went about my day.
I get up and work after nights of not sleeping, because the nightmares got the better of me. I make everyone's expectations my own.
Why?
     Because,  I am terrified of what I will see if I stop. Terrified of what others will see in me if I let down my walls. Terrified of what will happen if I just stop and take a second to compose myself. Terrified of my own voice.
The very thing that I need to do, scares me the most.
      I learned over the years to disassociate from those pieces of myself.
That way I could sit in mediation, and feel without breaking down. Leave that other part of me in a box. Act like that part of me never existed.  I can flow through my yoga classes, help others heal, but never touch my own wounds. I can shower others in love and grace. Yet,I lack the ability to do it for myself.
     I thought it made me stronger, and it did for a while.
 It was only suppose to be a crutch. It gave me the ability to cope and accept.  It was honestly, the only reason I could continue to function. It did serve a purpose and it helped me. I was the one who made it a handicap. I didn't let it go, didn't try to work without it. I didn't do the work for years and years.
     The past few years, the universe broken me down again and again. The last big shake up being the one that took me to my knees. In that moment, I couldn't get it back together. The damage was far too great for plaster and quick fixes. This time I really had to do some work. It was one of the most awful and rewarding experiences I have ever had. I wish it didn't have to be so devastating, but I wasn't open for anything else. I was to hidden, too skilled at my craft. It is an ever moving process, and  am still working on it.
      In doing so I have been amazed with how things opened up for me. I have had people come into my life that have shown me magic. Brought me back here to my writing. Given me a chance to slow down. I have had amazing friends who have met me where I was at and just loved me. These amazing souls deserve a story of their own. Something I am currently working on.
      I can't speak for everyone, I can only share what I have learned. My hope is that in sharing, maybe I can find others who are stumbling through the dark with me. Make something beautiful out of our darkness. Together we can find strength and find a way to rebuild our fire.
      I am grateful for all the tools and walls that kept me sheltered and safe so I could get to this point. But I am tired, so fucking tired of just surviving. Tired of slapping band aids on open, gaping wounds. Tired of feeling less than. Tired of being afraid. Tired of holding back.
      I want to heal and I want to thrive. I want to look the world in the eyes and say "Bring it! I can handle whatever you throw my way!" I want to be a warrior who can be real with herself. I want to stop hiding and I really want to feel life the way it should be felt. Uncensored, raw and real.
     That being said, I am going to write my story. I may publish, I may not. But I am done hiding from it. My hope, is that anyone who can relate to this, will reach out. Reach out here, or to someone that you trust. There is strength in numbers and we are not alone. We never have been. It's time to come out of hiding. It is time to find our voices. Time to show the world what real strength looks like.

Goddess Love

Life has hurt her
Hurt her on a soul level
Yet, she still finds ways to love
She still opens up to the possibilities
She owns the idea of forever
But her wounds are deep
Deeper than anyone could imagine
And this Goddess
Does not do mediocre in love
When love enters her life
She gives all of herself
Opens up completely
She allows her spirit and her heart to fly free
She moves from a level of deep trust
A level of trust that rarely exsists
A passion that is so hard to find

So when those she loves leave
When those she loves reject her
The pain is unbelievably deep
That pain runs through circuits and channels
It runs through and rips off every band-aid
Leaves old pain open and raw
Reminding her to feel unworthy
It combines with every other wound
Every other rejection comes up front and center
With every rejection
She looks in the mirror
She hates herself a little more each time
She trusts herself a little less each time
She closes up
Much like the buds of flower
Closing at the end of the day
Tightly she pulls the petals in and around her heart
Sometimes the rejections are temporary
Sometimes they are just about the growth of the other
Sometimes those who rejected her come back
And those she chooses to  love
She loves deeply
Always
Her love for another never goes away
No matter how hurt she is
So she opens a little
She listens to why
She comforts the through the apologies
She hears the words of love
She needs to believe in that person
She needs to believe in the magic of love again
She wants desperately to go back to how she felt in the beginning
So she tries
Logically she can process the why
She can see the other side of it
So she opens a little more
But this time not as freely
For every word that sounds like rejection
Every action that looks retreat
Causes a state of panic
Causes her to retreat a little more
She understands that she is sensitive
Her logic tells her to relax and trust
So she chides herself for over reacting
She  continuously beats herself up for being so afraid
She beats herself up for knowing that her distance
Her lack of opening
Her instinctive ability to shut down
Hurts the one she should be loving so fully
But she doesn't move nor thrive on logic
She moves and thrives from her heart
She blossoms from her soul
Those deeply guarded areas
Those areas that have been hurt
Those areas where logic ceases to exists
Those areas will always override her logic
They keep her in limbo
She can't let go
She can't move forward
She just resides in a state of fear
A fear of being stupid
A fear of being rejected
A fear of hurting someone she loves so much
A fear of the unknown
So she loves with everything that she is able to
Knowing that it will never be enough
Knowing that she may never be able to fully open again
No matter how much she wants to, or tries
So she waits
Waits for that magic moment
Waits for her love to say something
Anything that she can trust at a heart level
She waits for the possibility
The possibility that someone may see her and love her
Love her for who she is
Shine love upon her like the sun
Allowing her to open and blossom fully again
For you see
Life has hurt her
Yet she still believes in possibility of
She believes in magic of love
And trust ....
Trust is something she gives freely when you first meet
Trust is something that can come back
If you understand her
If you are patient and allow her wounds to heal.
So if you meet this Goddess.
Tread lightly with her heart
Only dive in if you are willing to stay
If you are willing to battle the hurricanes and storms that rage in her soul
Love only if you are willing to pick up sword and fight with her
Love only if you are willing to hold her hand when she ventures off into the dark wood
Love her only if you really see all that she is giving
For if you leave....
She may never be able to open up again
And her love is one that will never forget
Her love, is one that no one will ever be able to replace
For it rare to meet someone
Who loves and gives so freely in spite of all the pain.
Love
That is her magic...
Her gift to you
She loves with all that she has....