To the Ones Who Feel Everything: A Letter for the Heartbroken, Exhausted, and Brave
This one is for anyone struggling with their feelings, feeling heartbroken, exhausted, defeated, unsure, angry, sad, and disembodied. We need you!
If you’re feeling these things, you are paying attention and you are seeing too much suffering, too much heartache, and you’re seeing the conformity we have all become accustomed too, where we all keep stepping one foot in front of the other hoping the bottom won't fall out.
The other day, I watched a group of seniors graduate from Mustang High School in Oklahoma. I saw a group of hundreds of kids slumped over, bodies collapsing, disassociated, and just doing what they’ve done for 15 years:
sit in desks
conform
do the busy work
All of this to get the diploma that gives zero guarantees and hardly prepares children for the real adult world.
There they were at the end of this long school journey.
The speakers gave meaningful speeches.
Both of them were young women.
Both of them were open-hearted, brave, and full of hope.
Both of them were telling all the kids to wake up to this moment right now, because this moment, this right now, is powerful and it’s a moment they’ll always remember how hard they worked to get there.
One of them wrote a vulnerable letter to her 14-year-old self, and I just wanted to hug that brave 18-year-old and tell her how fucking courageous she is right now!
Then I wanted to leap through my live stream onto the stage and tell all of the soon-to-be graduates to sit up straight, to take a few deep breaths, to connect to their bodies, to feel the years of work they put into this moment, and to celebrate that it was over.
The next step, the next choice, it was there’s to make.
It wasn’t their parents’ choices anymore. Nobody would be telling them where to go next. And if they were, they had the right to say, “Nope. It’s my life now.” That might mean they have to live on their own and face adversity, but it’s their life. It’s their time to step out and to pave a path uncharted.
Many of them will do what their parents tell them to.
Many more will continue to conform and shove their dreams, their hearts’ longings, and their passion away for a “safe” job.
A few will travel, a few will explore their options, a few will step out of their parents’ shadows and step into the uncertainty of their future.
Here’s what I did when I was 18.
A College Freshman’s Raw Journey Toward Peace & Purpose
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Mar 6
Picture this, an 18 year old graduate from Silverado High School in Las Vegas, NV, headed to Naropa University in Boulder, CO.
To the ones who feel:
afraid
lonely
tired
brokenhearted
exhilarated
defeated
unsure
angry
sad
full of joy,
hope,
love...
Know you aren’t alone.
Too many of us are feeling all of these things and not talking about it.
Too many of us are unsure of where our energy is best served.
Too many of us can see what’s happening, but don’t know which fight to fight or if to fight at all.
It’s hard to prioritize your individual life when you see all the chaos in this world.
Here's my very best advice.
Find a quiet place to connect to your heart, to your body, and to feel into what matters to you.
What brings you energy?
What do you have energy for?
What do you care about?
Pick one thing and move toward it.
Whatever you do, don’t give up on your humanity, on your feelings, on letting yourself cry, and lay flat with exhaustion, and laugh.
Don’t forget to laugh.
Oh, and all of this today was sparked from this song I listened to about finding your verse.
Here it is from Toni ….. What’s Your Verse
Her songs are full of intuition, intention, light, love, boundaries, healing, manifesting, standing in your true power, and so much more. Check her out.
Love always,
Danielle Mallett
