Finding Us
I’m sorry it took so long for me to find the “me” who stayed hidden, wearing masks made from problems to solve, other people’s anger, other people’s everything— until I almost forgot I was here at all. I was a mirror, reflecting only what I saw, never daring to shine my own light. But then— I noticed some souls spill color when they are kind. Their goodness paints the air— shades of love, tones of forgiveness, strokes of hope that linger like halos where no brush has touched. And me? I found myself between the stripes of a county jail jumpsuit, in corners no one would think to search— behind barred windows, on thin mattresses, in the silence of a chapel where I learned that even sorrow can hum a song of resurrection. Kindness cracked me open. It pours joy into the hollow spaces I thought would never hold light again. Now when I smile, it isn’t borrowed— it’s mine. The “me” I thought was gone was simply waiting for gentleness to call her home.