“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.” ~ Prince, Let’s Go Crazy

Who knew life could be this beautiful and this terrible all at once?

No one ever told me love would feel like this. I guess it’s something you have to experience for yourself. It’s both learning how to breathe for the first time and forgetting to breathe because the world is suddenly making sense in the arms of the girl you love.

I don’t know a lot of things for sure. Maybe it’s too soon to call. But I do think I know this:

Love. It really does feel like safety and home. Like being cared for as a whole person.

It is being seen. Being seen for who you really are and the other person not running away but in fact, running towards you when you’re in danger and chasing the monsters away.

Even when PTSD sometimes steals those good moments for me–just knowing I’m not alone is a beautiful thing. To be loved–truly loved–is to be seen and accepted for who you are.

To be loved is to just…be. It’s existing…and being not only allowed to exist in this world. But to exist in this world as who you are and to thrive.

It is thriving and growing and smiling in the face of the hard times because you know.

You know everything is going to be ok because you don’t have to do this “thing called life” alone anymore. And maybe that love for you isn’t romantic or coming from just one person. Hopefully, you will know many kinds of love in your life. The kind of love that helps you thrive. I hope that you will–if you have not yet–one day know what it is like to be seen.