Bits & Pieces

“You’re not,” he said.

“But I used to be,” I protested.

He looked at me intensely and unafraid saying, “Yeah, but you’re not. Not anymore. You’re not.”

I felt my chest tighten. Little waves rising in my eyes.

I stood up and walked out of sight. My chest heaved forward while the little waves began their descent, crashing into my cheekbones.

I have always been told what I am. 

Until this specific moment, no one has ever told me what I am not. What I can’t be.

Not anymore. I’m not.

..

There is a place that I find to be truly sacred.

This is the place I am most alone.

This is where pray. When I remember to pray, it is almost always here.

This is where I think about what is next or what just happened.

This is where I make the call.

This is where I scribble down what I want to remember.

This is where little pieces of my life lay strewn about.

This is where I have had deep conversations with distraught teenagers. And shallow conversations, too.

This is where I have been kissed goodbye.

This is where I sing.

This is where I try to practice silence.

This is where nearly everyone I love has sat next to me.

This is where I pack everything when I move.

This is where I stay to cry, or rant, or sleep when I don’t want to face the world yet.

This is where I roll down the windows and breathe deep.

This place takes me wherever I need to go.

..

One nice thing about enduring something sad is that it opens up the possibility to re-discover happiness.

When you’re sad, everything in you is saying, “Please! For the love of God. Let me find something happy. Anything. I’ll take anything.”

So you do. You seek out joy in every tiny thing.

You find yourself freaking out about how huge the moon is.

You laugh too hard at everyone’s jokes.

You experience genuine euphoria while adding toppings to your frozen yogurt.

You get overly excited about how kick ass your Excel spreadsheet is at work.

You fall in love with something about everyone.

You live for that first cup of coffee in the morning. Just the smell has you beaming.

You could cry about how adorable that baby is.

You become zealous about taking on any sort of project. All of the sudden you might want to learn how to play the ukelele or become an avid kite flyer.

The way the sun is shining or the wind is blowing could ignite sheer bliss in your soul.

When you’re craving happiness, you can find it everywhere.

Isn’t that great?

 

Love,

Taylor

 

 

 

 

Happy

There I was standing in the kitchen washing dishes. Clayton was drying dishes and putting them back in their homes. Music was playing. We were half dancing to it and chiming in to the parts we knew. I was laughing about something and then I just was hit with a wave of happiness. I don’t know what induced it. But for whatever reason, in that moment I just felt happy.

And as I was reveling in that feeling, I thought…why don’t I just say it?

So I turned to Clayton and said,”Hey. I’m happy right now.” And it seemed like a weird thing to say in that way.

But then I thought of my little friend Henry (who is 2.5 years old) and how sometimes I’ll hear him say, “Guys, I happy! I happy now.”

It’s way cuter when he says it.

But I decided that I’m going try and be better at acknowledging when I feel happy or when someone makes me feel happy. I’m going to make an effort to pause and give those moments recognition. It is so easy for me to complain and to verbalize how tired, stressed, irritated, etc. I am. Why not do that when I’m having fun, enjoying who I’m with, where I am, or what I’m doing?

What made you happy today?

Love,

Taylor

Henry and I being happy