Belonging is a gift we accept from others

Also a gift we build ourselves

Step 1:

Be alone in pain and joy.

Learn how their contours fit your bones

Feel how their tinctures settle in your veins

Understand how they form you beyond the womb

Step 2:

Observe the silhouette of your peace.

Is it cylindrical like candles or free like rushing wind?

Is it energetic happy chatter or a mystical layered whispers?

It is crafted with busy hands or in the stillness of meditation?

Step 3:

Accept who doesn’t like you.

Don’t spend energy on changing their mind.

Wish them best on their separate path.

Stop thinking about them altogether.

Step 4:

Pursue what gives you strength.

First, define strength,

sometimes we shake in bravery.

What makes you feel whole, purposeful, connected, curious, alive?

What makes you forget helplessness, isolatation, overwhelm, and lethargy?

Nurture what gives you strength.

What else?