Dear Self,
You know how you sat around the kitchen table last night with your Mum, sister and brother and prayed for your father to have a car accident and die?
Well, I want to tell you that, number one; it was an understandable and forgivable prayer under the circumstances. And two, you will one day be grateful that he lived.
Yes, I know he abuses you, your siblings and your mother. You feel as though you are in the middle of a never-ending and unbearable nightmare, atop a cruel merry-go-round from which you can never alight. Utterly powerless to pull a lever where you might be catapulted to safety, asking yourself “does such a place exist and am I worthy of being there?”
Do you know how pearls are created? They continuously protect themselves from an irritant by secreting a solution called mother-of-pearl, which covers the irritant and eventually makes a pearl. The pearl-making process is long and uncomfortable.
I agree the pain you are experiencing right now is excruciating. But as you endure and survive every agonising moment, a most powerful transformation is underway. Weaving an invisible but magical net around your fragile soul, a pearl is gently being cultivated.
And yes, that masterpiece is…you.
The day you fiercely erupt from this craggy and ugly prison is a new beginning.
A life where ‘freedom’ becomes your middle name.
Where the word ‘dependence’ does not exist in your vocabulary.
A space where you would surely drown if love were a liquid.
Where an enviable tenacity will stand you in good stead when times are tough.
Believe me, he is your greatest teacher.
Trust that you are a glorious work in progress.
So for now Marsha, just breathe.
This deeply honest and moving letter was written by a dear friend of mine; Marsha.
We are made better because of shared hope, shared thought and the courage of people like Marsha who own their story. Hold onto hope because as Marsha writes,
“a pearl is gently being cultivated.”
That’s you. Precious. Rare.
Keep hanging onto hope.
Naks.
What is your story? share below in the comments.
