I create these fears in my mind
I match your actions to my fears

I make the imperfections real by willing them to be

--


When someone tells me they understand, that it's okay, that they are there for me:

"That's what the people who've consoled me the most deeply in my sorrow have done. They've spoken those words or something like them every time I needed to hear it; they've plainly acknowledged what is invisible to them, but so very real to me. I know saying those cliched and ordinary things makes you feel squirmy and lame. I feel that way too when I say such things to others who have lost someone they loved. We all do. It feels lame because we like to think we can solve things. It feels insufficient because there is nothing we can actually do to change what's horribly true.
But compassion isn't about solutions. It's about giving all the love that you've got."

- Cheryl Strayed, "Tiny Beautiful Things"