and there are all of these beautiful things… sunlight, goodness, stars… you…

sometimes this world feels like the heaviest place that we could ever know, and it aches just to breathe here.

sometimes
this world feels
like the heaviest place
that we could ever know,
and it aches just to breathe here.
but then i look around,
and there are all of these
beautiful things… sunlight,
goodness, stars… you.

– butterflies rising

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ways to break this southern girl’s heart…

she’s made up of sweet tea and poetry

Ways To Break This Southern Girl’s Heart
after Diane Lato’s “Easy Ways To Break My Heart”

– give her unsweetened tea. there are no two more terrible words to a southern girl when put together

– tell her you’re an alabama fan. you’ve gotta know that she’s gonna bleed volunteer orange ‘til the end no matter

– tell her you don’t like the mountains. her heart has east tennessee sunrises imprinted on it… and she wants to show you every sunlit, treelined, starkissed view

– turn down the volume when ‘country girl’ by ray lamontagne comes on. papa used to play it for her on the porch, and she’s gotta hear every bit of it, every time

– you wanna really crush her heart? then ask to meet her daddy. because he isn’t in her heart anymore. he was the first one who broke it, and in too many ways, long ago

– and if you wanna just completely shatter her into pieces… then try to give her an ordinary love. because she needs love like wildfire. like forever-fire. until every last southern sun sets. till the stars burn out. and to know her heart is finally safe… with you

…she needs to know that breaking her heart is the very last thing you would ever want to do.

– butterflies rising

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when you let your fear fall quiet…

who are you when you put it all down for just a moment? when you let your fear fall quiet. - butterflies rising

who are you
when you put it all down
for just a moment?
when you let your fear fall quiet.
and you let your anxious heart settle.
and you let a little trust in.
and when you let your soul breathe…
and maybe even dream a little.
what if somewhere in the way that
all feels is who you really are.
and what if there is another life in it
you’re meant to find… one where
your breathing is allowed to be so easy
and the stars are allowed to be so close
and your heart is allowed to run so wild
and your dreams are allowed to burn so. bright.
what if somewhere in the way that
all feels is what it’s meant to be like.
what if… what could it all be like?
maybe let yourself feel it,
even if for just a moment; who you are
when you let all of your fears fall away.

– butterflies rising

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what if there is a life…

what if there is a life where your breathing is allowed to be so easy and the stars are allowed to be so close

what if
there is a life where
your breathing is
allowed to be so easy
and the stars are
allowed to be so close
and your heart is
allowed to run so wild
and your dreams are
allowed to burn so bright

…what if

– butterflies rising

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aching to touch stars… i hope you keep it close… no matter what. if it’s imprinted on you…

that part of you that is aching to touch stars

aching to touch stars…

i hope you keep it close…
no matter what.
if it’s imprinted on you,
like soul memory,
then i hope you keep it so. close.
and that you hold on tight
no matter what.
there will be little traces of someday
in the not-quite-yet, and i hope you feel them.
and that you can find a way to trust them.
even if weary sets in and uncertain gets loud,
i hope you can be gentle with that doubt.
and that something in you knows that it will pass.
and that it doesn’t mean give up.
i hope you never truly feel give-up.
but if you do, then i hope that some. how.
the fight in you finds its teeth
and that heart of yours finds its fire
and that you can reach deep down into that
part of you that is aching to touch stars and just
find a way to stay dreaming no. matter. what.
i hope you can hold on and hold on
and hold on… until you can feel
every last bit of your hope
holding you right back.

– butterflies rising

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let’s run free under starlight… there are others like us out there… aching dreamers like you and me…

i've got all this wildflower energy, and i see your wildfires when you look at me

there are others like us
out there… aching dreamers
like you and me, who’ve been
told it’s too much…
we’ve been wrecked in our spirit.
but what if we could still believe in things.
beautiful things, untouchable things;
even the ones they told us not to.
what if we just chase them anyways.
i think we could touch them…
because i’ve got all this wildflower energy,
and i see your wildfires when you look at me,
and i love that way you smile like
wild defiance… i wanna bottle it up and
use it to fight off all my fears.
so let’s leave doubt where it came from,
and let’s run free under starlight,
and let’s believe. so. much. that we
just can’t be told different.
and then maybe… we could show the
others that there is still so much for
them to believe in too.

– butterflies rising

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