There was a time I didn’t recognize myself. Not in the mirror. Not in my own voice. Grief has been my shadow, following me through cities that whispered my name like it belonged to someone else, through rooms I could not claim, through streets that promised freedom but only echoed back my doubts. I carried myself in pieces, folded and refolded, as if stitching together a life I had almost let go. I learned that leaving is not always escape, that aloneness can be a teacher, if you have the courage to listen. There was a night I swallowed silence just to see if it would swallow me back. I gave and gave and gave, until I almost disappeared. But something shifted. A quiet pull beneath the fear A voice that said: walk anyway. trust anyway. there is more waiting. Me and the stars made a pact even if we are ignored, even if we are placed elsewhere in the universe, we will shine anyway. And I am still here. Not finished. Not fixed. But here. And the shift has begun.
