"You are never alone"...the truth that doesnt feel quite true.

There are billions of people on this earth. Someone, somewhere, at some time has likely been in your exact situation. Someone has had the same set of circumstances, faced the same obstacles, battled the same struggle. This is a truth. You are NOT alone. So why doesn’t that FEEL true?

This moment belongs to you.

This moment…this breath, this heartache, this rage, this despair, this pain…whatever it is that YOU are going through…this is YOURS.

Emotions can be heavy. The weight of whatever is burdening your soul can feel as if the gravity of the entire planet is focused entirely on you. It can appear as if everyone else is weightless, floating away, while you–alone–carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. That sense of isolation can make it feel impossible to connect to another living soul, and you can feel very alone indeed.

This is a truth I can understand...

I am no stranger to feeling like an island surrounded by an ocean of people. Detached. Removed. Apart.

Alone.

Even when I’m NOT. I’m blessed to be surrounded by individuals who love me, cherish my company, reach out to me when the darkness invades my mind. Family. Friends. Beautiful souls who try their hardest to pull me–kicking and screaming–back out into the light. Unfortunately, that isn’t a barrier they can breach. It’s mine.

Just like your darkness, your isolation, belongs to you.

own it.

Here is another truth for you: we, as human beings, only grow through adversity.

We’ve been conditioned to think that being solitary is a bad thing. We’ve been conditioned to believe that we are supposed to hold an ideal level of happiness and that if we don’t, something is wrong with us. We’ve been conditioned to believe that we, at our core, are flawed.

Growth HURTS.

When we hurt, we feel fear. We feel anger. We feel betrayal, and despair, and pain, and rage and and and….the list is endless. Admitting what you feel is not a weakness. Being overwhelmed by the depth of your emotions is not a weakness.

Growing to the point that you can sit with your feelings, take the time to examine them, learn from them, breathe while inside them–that is a worthy goal to aspire to.

Remember who you are.

Sometimes, we can’t feel anything at all. Those are the moments that tend to scare me the most.

Those are the moments that it would be so much easier to give up–to fade away. So much easier to forget the heartache, the loss, the pain, the anger, the grief.

Do you know who you are? Do you have a way to reignite that spark that helps you remember how to care? How to love? How to unfurl yourself from the darkness of your own mind and start living your life again?

I’ve found a way to help myself remember who I am. Maybe, just maybe, it will help you too.

At my core, I’m an Aries (my zodiac sign – if you don’t believe in those things, that’s ok too).

I’m flame, and passion, and a stubborn refusal to admit defeat. Sometimes, I just need to remind myself of that, because it gets hard to see when the darkness surrounds me and my inner candle flickers and grows dim.

The Crafter's Vow: We create, so we don't destroy ourselves.

This is more than just a catchy phrase. This is my secret–and I’m sharing it with you.

When my soul screams – I craft.

When my heart bleeds – I craft.

When my body aches – I craft.

When my mind implodes – I craft.

Sometimes, it’s little things. I’ll grab a piece of paper, and fold it into a paper airplane. A few blades of grass will turn into a knotted bracelet. A fleeting sense of satisfaction will flicker through my mind, and my flame will flicker back to life.

Sometimes…

A piece of string and a needle will turn into a crochet chain. The crochet chain turns into a row of stitches. That row of stitches becomes two, then three; before I know it, stitch by stitch, the chaos of my mind begins to sharpen into focus. As the blanket grows, my mind begins to wander to the littles in my life (my children, my grandson, the children and grandchildren of those close to me) and a smile begins to drift across my lips. As beauty flows from my fingertips, the love I feel for and from them begins to swell in my heart, and infuse the threads that have been woven by the power of my hands.

What started as a maelstrom of emotion evolves into something beautiful, infused with love and growth and hope. A gift for someone in my life, filled with intention and understanding. Filled with gratitude, and light wrested from the darkness.

Crafting is alchemy for my emotions, friends. Maybe it will be for you, too.