Mexico, 2019 @summer_buns
On the surface, these pictures merely look like a good time. But what you don’t see is that what started out as a timid tiptoe around each other soon gave way to a sense of urgency to dive into one another with what little time we had left. To see each other, and to be seen.
Do you know what it feels like to be seen? It feels like you’ve just fallen in love with 30 people at the same time. It feels like being spoken to with only their eyes and letting them pierce your soul. It feels like walking down an aisle of strangers with your eyes closed who are whispering the goodness they see in you in both ears so loudly that all you can do is receive it and know that this is what it feels like to be seen.
To all the souls I met this week: who lifted me, filled me, inspired me, engaged me, challenged me, pushed me, made me laugh, brought me joy, held me when I cried. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Your truth, grace, beauty, grit, and raw power is a gift for which I will never have sufficient words.
My hope for you is that you don’t act out of fear, scarcity, anxiety, or grasping. Just act because it’s all too precious, delicate, and important not to give our all and our everything. I hope that if you love someone, good fucking god, you say it and say it and say it again. If there is a place, person, dream, or a love calling to your soul – move mountains to get to where you need to be. If you’ve lost yourself along the way, claw your way back to your own beating heart with the last bit of strength in your body. If you have work you need to do in the world, a story you need to tell, or a truth that needs to be spoken. Do it or tell it or speak it like it matters more than anything else.
Because right now, I can’t think of anything more holy than this: SHOW UP. Like you never have before. Fuck the protection and old wounds. To hell with saving energy for another day, or letting our doubts or scars win the round.
There’s no time for that.
To hell with it. Just go out and love, as hard as you can. Be brave. Reach out and hold on tightly to what matters. Do it like you might not ever get a chance again. Because you might not.
You have changed me. Forever. ILY
