Am I so dull that no one cares enough to stay?
Is love so blind that, unaware, it turns away?

by Greg Lauren

I Need To Remember That I Am Amazing

I need to remember that I am amazing.
Compliments from others will never stick
unless I believe them.

This is why I am troubled.
This is why I can't believe him.
This is why I fear May.
I tremble that he will notice
how frail
how simple
how plain
how tremulous
how silly
how dull
how boring
I am.

But I'm not those things!
I am something
entirely
brilliant
unique
amazing
glowing
and bright!
When I don't aim to impress, I shine!
I've seen it!  I've felt it!
I am that woman!

But when suddenly I need him to love me,
my colors fade under the harsh light of my own terrified eye,
and I feel limp and vacant.
And feeling limp and vacant
makes you limp and vacant.

But I must not be as limp and vacant as I feel I am,
because he still calls me.

...

WHY CAN'T THAT BE MY PROOF?
WHY CAN'T I BELIEVE HIM?

Because I need to believe it without him, first.
And then every piece of love he gives me will make sense,
because I love me, too.

My home is the sea by Matt Wisniewski

Addict

Chemicals rush through my brain,
causing my skin to tingle,
my blood to swell like the tide,
and my heart to beat loud in my chest,
which resounds with the pulse
and refuses to breathe,
until my ears stop ringing,
my eyelids flutter open,
and the rush subsides.

Tell me again.

Ink Under Water Photograph by Alberto Seveso

Visiting Boston Was Hard But I Refuse To Regress

"A feeling that didn't go away just did.
And I walked a thousand miles to prove it."

My Blood, Ellie Goulding

Breakthrough

The last year was horrible, but it was really nothing.

^
Look up there, at that sentence!!  I wrote that!

My Life Is Like A Linen Garment

My life is like a linen garment,
Not innocent or shy or new,
But I once grew young and green and vibrant,
Watered with the freshest dew.

I was uprooted, drowned in water,
Held there under current cold.
Something broke down deep within me.
I could not withstand the mold.

Retted, torn, and sodden deeply,
I was beaten black and blue
Til my shell was loosened from me.
Nothing left for clinging to.

I was done, I thought, quite truly,
As I bleached out in the sun,
But I was spun, then, woven newly.
Another life had just begun.

My life is like a linen garment;
Fibres made from rotted weed.
My first and second dreams of grandeur
Passed, but now I'm strong indeed.

"Cycle" by Louise Feneley

12/50 Reasons

I like my body.  I think it is quite beautiful.  It is athletic-looking without me having to do anything athletic.  It is thin enough without me having to worry about my diet.  It is fairly strong, reasonably tan-able, with defined lines and graceful features, and it cooperates with me in doing a lot of fun things like dancing, sewing, walking, sleeping, and stretching.  I used to be unhappy with my body, but I've grown into it since I was thirteen, and it fits me perfectly now.