no need to be afraid

if you're afraid you'll never find it
if you're afraid you've got it and you'll fuck it all up
if you're afraid you won't recognize it when it's right in front of you
if you're afraid you don't deserve it
if you're afraid you aren't ready for it
if you're afraid you can't trust it
if you're afraid you can't be in it and be your truest self
if you're afraid you can't have it and your biggest dreams
if you're afraid you couldn't possibly hold the beauty of it
if you're afraid it'll suffocate you
if you're afraid you'll end up hating it
if you're afraid you can't show it well enough
if you're afraid you don't know how to just be in it
if you're afraid it's just not in you
if you're afraid they won't feel it back
if you're afraid you don't know where it'll take you
if you're afraid you'll lose everything for it or you've lost yourself in it
if you're afraid it won't be worth it
if you're afraid you can't explain it
if you're afraid you can't give it to someone else because you can barely give it to yourself
if you're afraid they won't approve of it
if you're afraid it'll always break your heart
if you're afraid it doesn't exist
if you're afraid that maybe, just maybe, you can carry on without it

this is for you. and for your fears. for giving space to them. for letting them say hello. for letting you know that i feel them too. but that i'm doing my part to believe a more powerful story than one that's swamped by fear:

there is no need to be afraid.

real love is within you, beside you, around you, waiting for you, hoping for you, praying for you, embracing you, believing in you, and moving you to do exactly what needs to be done in this very moment on earth.

that's all, people. all we can do. love a little, and then love a whole lot more.

muster trust in ourselves, trust in others and faith in the unknown.

surrender to love.

it has carried every living thing in this universe. it is carrying you, too.

and today, with 8 days until i publicly confess my life long commitment to the man of my dreams, i'm doing my very best (despite my fears) to remember that love is the bedrock of hope, carrying us through the unknown, holding us with all the compassion that our dear hearts may need, and truly, there is no need to be afraid.