Instead of raising children who turn out okay despite their childhood, let's raise children who turn out extraordinary because of their childhood. - L.R. Knost

The only way to heal from the pain
of the past is to walk through that pain
in the present. It's terrifying, I know.
It feels safer to just let the pain continue
to smolder in the darkest parts of yourself.
But the dark parts need tending, too, my friend.
Don't be afraid to breathe life back into those
embers of old pain, to rekindle the fires of
unhealed hurts. The flames aren't there to burn
you. They are there to light your way through
pain to healing. You can walk through courageous
and confident or shaking in your boots. It doesn't
matter. Just walk through it. Hurt will transform
into hope, wounds into wisdom, suffering into
scars that tell of battles won and lost and of a
human who survived it all.

They say that music
soothes the soul.
I think that's true.
Sometimes.
But other times music
stirs the soul,
reaching deep and
digging up pain
we need to process,
thoughts we need to
wrestle with, fears we
need to work through,
sadness we need to sit
with, loss we need
to lay to rest.
Music is powerful
because it can reach past
the guardhouse of the mind,
taking on those dragons
that jealously hoard the
glittering treasure of
the human spirit,
and set the tortured soul free.

At a time when politics and power decide who is important enough to be fed, to be safe, to be free, those of us who have a voice in this world must speak boldly, loudly, insistently for those who cannot speak for themselves.