Even here, you are growing.
When August is approaching
and you feel a little restless
thinking about how
this month might end
and how
this year might end
and how you are supposed to
start again,
you are growing,
you are growing,
in grace
courage
strength.

And it is okay
if it does not feel like it.
It is okay if there are moments
where you cannot see
the way you have grown,
because far beneath the surface
the seeds have still been sown.
The ground beneath your feet
is still a bed for new beginnings.

So much is changing around you
but you are changing, too.

You are so much more than the brokenness
that you were certain would define you.

It has not been easy for you.
You have worked so hard
to be the positive one.
You have given your best
in areas of your life
where the effort was not returned.
And this has made it so hard
for you to keep going,
and there have been days
where you were not sure
if it was even possible.
But after everything,
here you are,
just a little stronger,
holding on a little longer,
and you still found room for hope.

So take heart
breathe deep
you are still becoming
who you were meant to be.

Let July be July.
Let August be August.
And let yourself

just be
even in
the uncertainty.
You don’t have to fix
everything.
You don’t have solve
everything.
And you can still
find peace
and grow
in the wild
of changing things.

From SeaBed, paraphrased

I saw a ghost in the living room.
But as I was already used to the phenomenon, I did not let it interfere with the preparation of my evening meal.
The ghost ate my fried egg and commended its taste.
As I listened to her talk, my memories drifted back to the days we were still together.
Back then, she asked me what was necessary for the two of us to be together.

Alone in that spacious living room, I attempted to figure out why it all ended this way. Why those days when nothing could stand in our way faded into the past.
I no longer felt like I could do everything.
The world had grown complicated. Even simple matters became difficult.
The rules we had established in the past no longer seemed to apply, and the castle we built for ourselves crumbled to dust.
“What is necessary for us to be together?” – the ghost asked me.
We need a make a new place for ourselves.
A place no one can destroy.
Let’s make it a place that no one else can reach.
And so, I inconspicuously proceeded with the plan.
In a place so deep below the surface that no one else can find it.