Love Revelation: Being real can be so damn hard, sometimes.

seriouscafe

Sometimes it can be so hard to be real. Shame kicks in and permeates all
that I feel and I’m left hiding something that I don’t know I’m hiding. Trying my best to wear a smile. Pretending that something inside of me isn’t bending to the breaking point.

The truth is I’ve been living each day with overwhelm, with fear, with anxiety.

I’m moving from Madison, WI to NYC in a month, and its the biggest change I’ve ever chosen. Most days I’m just so focused on overcoming fear and wondering what I have begun. I’m in a process of becoming, and it’s a process of coming undone.

And I’ve felt really alone. I’ve felt unsure of myself. I have closed myself off with judgment.

Like, somehow, I’m supposed to know how to do this. Or I should be able to do this “better.” Like, somehow, I should be more excited then I am. I should be floating when I often feel like I’m drowning instead.

But transformation is a mess, and the truth is I’m doing my best. And my best is fucking beautiful.

My best includes moments of deep aloneness followed by the choice to open up and share myself…intimately

My best includes days when I don’t want to get out of bed, afternoons spent watching movies, to creating from inspiration and putting my thoughts into poetry.

My best includes a month of feeling dizzy and going to the gym anyway.

It includes serving in the deepest way and believing in the work I do even when I’ve created something new and I don’t know the next time that I’ll get paid.

It includes having the courage to leave the only home I’ve ever known to move cross-country

to forge ahead, to expand, and build my life on possibility

My best is my choosing to follow a dream no matter how unreasonable it all may seem.

Yes, being real can be truly hard, until I choose to let go and remember I’m not alone

because all that I am, you are.

Love Revelation: Learning Hurts

A poetic reflection of where I’m at, right now. It feels good to hold space for myself through exploring my heart with words.

There is something so saddening,
so exhausting about growth
There is a longing in my soul
to recognize myself as whole
and today I’m just not feeling it

Today I’d rather crawl under
a rock in some deep hole
then feel my muscles
stretching to meet the sun

Am I the only one here
in this place? I feel so alone,
so disconnected from
who I am here to be
and any reasoning leaves me
feeling further lost

There is so much about
learning that hurts
Stripped naked & raw
of what I already knew,
carved out anew to make
room for deeper understanding
When all I want is a soft
landing surrounded by friends
And I’m left here in this space
between
filled with questions instead

As the cells of my life
divide & multiply
as my heart expands to
make room for more
I feel fragile. Ungrounded.
Exposed.

And while I know I chose this
path in order to grow
Today I’m struggling to
remember what it’s all for
when all I can see is one door
closing behind me.

Love Revelation: Burned Up in the Fire

Melissa SImonson Red

I’ve come to learn that freedom doesn’t come
without first being burned up in the fire

I must first let go of my desire to never get hurt
Stop trying to conspire for the perfect ending
Stop defending myself
Stop pretending to be what I’m not

There is no easy exit
No temporary fix on the path to getting free
There is only integrity, honesty
The truth of me
All of the stuff I’m afraid to let you see

I get afraid to lose my grip on reality
Afraid to tip the scales
And feel the gravity of my choices
As the voice inside of me screams
For me to trust, to give it all up
And surrender to the stream
That is my life

No more striving for an illusion of control
As confusion rolls over my every move
There is only one thing to do, and nothing to prove:
Just speak the truth

Get burned up in the fire
so that all that’s left of me
Is not my story

but the woman I was born to be

Much Love,

Melissa

Photography by Frank Sommers

Love Revelation: I Have This Desire

GlamourShot74

I have this desire
to hold the whole world
as sacred
to take it all
into my womb
and hold it there
to feel every ounce
to experience every drop
in the deepest cells
of my bones
in the darkest water
of my soul
and then, when it’s time,
to let it all go
so that all are left whole
and at home
in the sacred space
of their own skin. ~ Melissa Simonson

Photography by Frank Sommers