Grief is not a prison, nor a chain,

it is a passage, a rite, a necessary flame,

and when it burns through, the heart remains-

not as ashes, but richer to have lived in its name.

The heart is a gateway, capable of transforming pain into something bearable, and sometimes even beautiful. But it is one of the first things that shuts off in response to trauma.

After experiencing acute or prolonged trauma, particularly in conditions like PTSD, the brain and body become locked in survival states…

A new dawn has emerged,

but the scars remain,

tortured echoes of my past, reduced to nothing,

carved by the trials I have sustained.

This is for the warrior hearts who may be more fragile in physical form, but whose spirits are robust. Sometimes despite the pain, sometimes because of it. For anyone dealing with an ongoing, chronic illness, but are determined for it not to define the quality of their life.

“Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.” - Rumi