12 Things I Would Say to Myself Right Now if I knew Everything Was Going to be Okay
“Everything is okay” is vague, I get that. It’s contextual. Even if everything is okay in one’s personal life, there’s still so much pain out there in the world—so the idea that I can’t be fully okay unless we’re all okay holds a lot of truth. But what I’m doing here is feeling into that exhale, that space after a long internal war has ended and a sense of safety within myself has been restored—even if only for a little while.
There are endless routes to that feeling of home—that feeling of internal safety. If life is just one long road trip through pain, joy, risk, and elation, with friends, lovers, and family as passengers or co-pilots who get in, get out, and sometimes get back in again along the way, then maybe…the fastest path back to safety isn’t about slamming on the gas or pushing through when the roads are bad and it’s 3 a.m. and you can’t keep your eyes open. Maybe home is just up at the next exit—risking the rain for a bit, then standing for a while beneath the awning over the convenience shop you used to go to all the time as a kid.
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Everything is going to be okay;
Irene Lyon is right: Saying “close your eyes and take a breath” can be a fucked-up thing to say to someone if you’re not attuned to where they are and what they need first;
This one’s hard, but I would try it on for size: You can forgive yourself for all the times you rushed love, doubted yourself sexually, and didn’t believe that someone could love you for who you are, mistakes and all;
Yes—you’re allowed to go outside and play now, definitely;
The answer is right now, in this moment;
& English Breakfast tea;
When you don’t know, you can simply say, “I don’t know,”;
I believe you;
I believe in you;
Good things can happen for you—even if you’re afraid they won’t;
You’re good enough. You’ve always been good enough;
Do you remember what you were trying to prove, and who you were trying to prove it to?
