All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living

Living in the moment is learning how to live between the big moments. It is learning how to make the most of the in-betweens and having the audacity to make those moments just as exciting.

Even though you have learned the skill of running on empty, now is the time to learn the art of breathing deep all over again,

So take photographs of everything: ordinary things, simple things, between the door and by the window things. Light-ridden and shadow-heavy things. Forever things. Fleeting things. Take photographs of everything.

Let today be the day you are kind to yourself and focus on believing what is beautiful and true. And this does not mean you ignore your imperfections. It means, in spite of them, you believe there is beauty to you.

Even when there are a thousand things to do, cherish these unrushed moments. Make room in your heart for them. There will be many mountains to climb, but always make time to find the pastures where you can rest.

While we are trying to make sense of things, may we learn to make peace with things.

She no longer had the desire to bend herself into the frame of photographs where she was unwelcome

Never let anyone who cannot bear your pain make you feel you are unbearable. Not everyone is capable of walking with you, but that does not mean you are not worthy of belonging.

You may not have chosen your surroundings, but you can choose to find life in them.

But no matter who stays or who walked away, remember all the things they taught you.

Choosing to have joy is not naively thinking everything will be easy. It is courageously believing that there is still hope, even when things get hard.

You are free to forgive and you are also free to heal. You are worthy of love no matter how anyone else has made you feel.

Were we really meant to rush with all abandon toward some earthly hilltop finish line? Or was God telling us something in those whispers to “be still,” that all along, it was necessary, to slow down, trust, and heal.

For out here, in the wild, you are agile, walking through your own uncertainty. And that, dear friend, takes bravery.

Even the dull moments that make you long to be elsewhere, will prepare you for where you want to be, and you will have gratitude when you arrive there.

Take photographs of everything. You never know how long these moments will be here. Things are going to change.

A few years ago, on a particularly cold autumn day, I found myself in a pit of self-doubt. Yet I was beginning to realize that if I ever wanted to grow, I couldn’t stay there. I realized that I could spend the rest of my life doubting myself, or I could make the brave decision to work through self-doubt and allow myself to be stretched in ways I had not been before. Excerpt From: Morgan Harper Nichols. “All Along You Were Blooming.” iBooks.

When you find yourself falling into the pit of anxiety, remember the ladder of hope that reminds you there is no reason to be afraid. There is still a way out of this, and you are still capable—not perfect, but capable—and you have permission to try to climb again. Even if your hands shake, and your knees are weaker from the fall, you can still trade your fears of tomorrow with hope for today: the courageous decision to climb on anyway out of the pit of anxious thoughts. There is no reason to live afraid.

find moments between breaths between midnight and mornings, when no one is speaking and no one is singing but God-Sent-Love is breathing.

Under blue skies, on cracked rocks, in dry heat, in desert land, grace is the hand that is never out of reach reminding you: you are not weak because you are lonely.

RATHER THAN WORRY ABOUT CREATING A LIFE THAT WAS IMPRESSIVE, SHE TURNED HER ATTENTION TO CREATING A LIFE THAT WAS BRAVE. SHE TURNED HER ATTENTION TO BEAUTY OVER PERFECTION, LOVE OVER COMPARISON, AND TELLING A STORY OF GRACE, INSPIRING OTHERS TO DO THE SAME. Not everyone’s strength looks the same.

I know that I have changed. I know that even though I still feel traces of my former self, I see things differently now. I have learned not to hide my pain for fear of what others might say. I have learned some days will be harder than others, and that is absolutely okay. I do not have to be strong all the time. I am not a burden because I have burdens, and because there is a lot on my mind. And maybe not everyone will have time for me, and maybe there will be people who feel I am too much, but I have learned that I am still worthy of Love, and that is more than enough.

For beyond your accomplishments and your calendars, and your lists, you were made with purpose and intention to reflect Glorious Light and to abide in Love that reminds you even in the pause you are still where you need to be.

It wasn’t until she reached the shore that she realized she was meant for water.

Never let anyone who cannot bear your make you feel you are unbearable

As sure as the water makes way past the river stones, so does hope carry you past the depth of your unknowns, under fogged and white-gray skies that demand the most of tired eyes, the sound of the rushing river gently speaks: all is passing, truly passing.

You are free to move around the room, to paint the walls a new color, and declare there is more to you.

The days are not going to look the same from this day forward, but you will move forward, for through all you have endured, you have blossomed. Which was possible only by the rain.

Amidst all the pressure to keep going and to keep going, may you also take time to learn the art of being; being Loved, being Held, being Seen, being in the Presence of the One who calls you to rest. For beyond your accomplishments and your calendars, and your lists, you were made with purpose and intention to reflect Glorious Light and to abide in Love that reminds you even in the pause you are still where you need to be. No matter how yesterday unfolded before your eyes and no matter the stacks of worries burdening your mind that have left you unsettled or confused, Light is still pouring in reminding you over and over again to surrender, to let go, for these troubles are bound to shadows that cannot survive in this new light. Bask in these beams of sun as you find your new beginnings, a new way of seeing, a grace-filled way of living. Oh, how steady hope makes the soul in the river rush of things you cannot control. For somehow through it all, you have still been made whole. Because as sure as the water makes way past the river stones, so does hope carry you past the depth of your unknowns, under fogged and white-gray skies that demand the most of tired eyes, the sound of the rushing river gently speaks: all is passing, truly passing. What if all the imperfections and the flaws were only part of your story— not the sum of who you are? What if all along, you were made to be beautiful, and it was only the dirt from this broken world that made you doubt your shining self? And what if you were not alone, as you once thought, and when a friend told you she would be there, she truly meant it? What if for every time you were afraid, you remember how you were brave, and it only escaped your memory because bravery is natural these days? Perhaps there are a million reasons to never take the leap, to never take the time to think your presence means anything, but I hope you know there are more reasons to believe this life is worth living for. I hope you can look down into that warped well of your imperfections knowing whatever you find there can never even compare to the greatness in your soul, shining wildly through.

it is okay to grieve the loss of things that will never be the same again. And this mind of yours that has pulled you back to the worst of things is the same mind that is capable of remembering the better things: