remember how wonderful it is to go where you wish to go and do what you wish to do. sincerely, independence
i think i’m on my side it’s good to have an ally
you will find evidence to support anything you choose to believe so choose to believe you are strong choose to believe you are capable choose to believe you are resilient choose to believe you belong
when you go through stormy seas you gain an appreciation for sailors who captain boats on rough waters you see people with scars from the sea and think “they are like me” and there we find comfort in tracing the scars on another’s skin and knowing they have felt what you have felt they have been where you have been
there are these things that tug on your insides some call them passions i like to think of them as the strings that tie my soul to the universe they remind me that there is a reason i am here
how to change the world: step 1. get out of bed
my elementary school teacher asked the class to paint a picture of the sky all around me were papers filled with blue skies and white fluffy clouds my teacher looked confused at my paper i had painted jupiter that’s when i discovered boundaries aren’t really my thing
don’t be in such a rush to be someone else’s that you neglect to be your own for a while
your purpose is not to be what they are looking for. you are not a ball of clay to be reshaped. your purpose is to be found by the ones who discover your soul and never want to leave.
you’re not going to find it. you’re not going to find what you had with that person ever again. the moving on doesn’t come when you find someone just like the love that you lost. the moving on comes when you accept that you’re not going to relive the same love twice. you are going to find comfort in someone else’s oversized sweatshirts, and you are going to make new inside jokes and laugh uncontrollably. it will never be the same, but it will be good. the moving on comes when you can be grateful for what you had and grateful for what you have.
the most beautiful people are the ones who speak with the conviction of a thousand voices and the confidence of royalty
for so long i’ve needed someone to tell me i love you regardless so i will tell it to you i love regardless of your biggest mistakes i love you regardless of your insecurities i love you regardless of your past i love you regardless of those who haven’t i love you regardless of how you’ve changed i love you regardless of who you love i love you regardless
there is no one more qualified to fill your space in this world
you make the stars look like they are just decoration
there won’t be this sudden moment or profound realization that you are beautiful instead appreciating your body and your self will come gradually it will start with thanking your permanent home for all she does for you looking at the skin-colored walls and not wishing to design them in any other way it will come in appreciating the way the muscles in your face tighten and pull to reveal your emotions eventually in the laughter in your morning voice a little at a time you will begin to see just how exquisite you are
i began personifying nature i allow the wind to run its fingers through my hair i let the moonlight kiss my skin i let the rustling trees write me poetry i even personify the storms i let them sweep me off my feet and i’ve realized i don’t need you i never did
they gifted you the capacity to understand all kinds of heartache each one of them gave you a reason to be kind to wandering souls use this knowledge of vulnerability to heal everyone you touch ~past lovers
the last person that broke my heart gave me the opportunity to love you you broke my heart and gave me the opportunity to love me ~it all works out somehow
sometimes when i look at the moon i like to imagine you are looking too our gaze is a bridge from us to the sky and there’s an invisible line that connects you and i and even if i’m miles from you after sunset can we meet on the moon? ~for my someone out there somewhere
you are a force of nature stop underestimating your ability to command the storms in your life
i sat in the river and realized the river is not peaceful because it is still. it is peaceful because it is in motion. i am the river.
i’ve started to think about my life as a long road trip and my energy as a tank of gas since then, i’ve been more conservative with who i give my energy to i’m slower to invite people into my car i am more intentional about the places i stop and the places i choose to rest i have learned that my energy time and attention are resources to be spent purposefully most of all i have learned that movement is normal staring at the window would be far less magical if the car never moved the point of the trip is that you’re growing and the point of the gas tank is that you can be decisive about whom you are growing with
i hope you find peace when you realize that, looking back, it’s always been the difficult times that have led you to incredible places. your heartache is for a reason. you are finding your way.
don’t allow love to be an excuse to exist quietly. if their love muffles your voice, if it is not inspiring, if it doesn’t resonate with the same intensity of sunsets and ocean waves, then know that walking away to the sound of your own marching band is the wisest path to take. allow each step to be an anthem of all of the reasons you should not be silenced.
i think it is beautiful how humanity can continue to write about love and never seem to run out of words. it is something bigger than all of the books can contain and it is yours to keep to give away to share to write about
this morning i woke up and she was standing by my bed palm open to me eyes begging me to take her hand i closed my eyes tried to sink back into my sadness then opened my eyes changed my mind and took her hand ~happiness
stare at the colors in the sky count the stars until you fall asleep notice how warm your bed is on rainy days so that when you lose your way you can hold on to these moments of magic
there is this undeniable peace in having sovereignty over one’s own life enjoy being the ruler of your own existence
you’ve struggled so long with that word “belong” you have tried to find people and places to belong to but people have left and you have outgrown these spaces the truth is you belong to me and to anyone else who, for a moment, has shared your mind or touched your soul you belong to the sun and to the rain to your trials and to your joy you have developed this misconception that belonging is an eternal state but you can belong temporarily and move on when you have outgrown your home tomorrow morning when your feet hit the floor please know you belong
you don’t always notice it leaving you one day you look down and discover that your wounds have become scars pain doesn’t usually announce its exit eventually you just stand up and everything doesn’t feel quite so heavy anymore
when i was writing i felt a sense of urgency to heal so i could finish the story for you then i learned that the book wasn’t about the conclusion it was about the process home isn’t the destination it’s the place where you catch your breath get back on your feet and continue the journey
it isn’t a new beehive it isn’t a girl who held me and smelled like honey it is me i am home
i believe it is in the job description of a writer to love people deeply and to experience life fully. when i say my dream is to be an author, i mean my dream is to live. find more of my work instagram @whitneyhansonpoetry tiktok @whitneyhansonpoetry
about the author whitney hanson is excited to share “home,” her first collection of poetry, with her readers. whitney is a 20-yearold university student who believes that sharing one’s story is the key to impacting others. she deeply believes that pain can be converted to purpose. she hopes that you will find the purpose for your pain in the pages of her book, and she ultimately aims to help her readers “make peace with their bees.”