Bottlerockt

Beauty is truth; truth beauty That is all ye know on earth And all ye need know - John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn Living in truth can burn. It burns away the excuses we create to justify and protect ourselves. It exposes. But lean into that fire because where there is truth there is beauty. Let it burn, let it cleanse you even if all that is left of yourself is a few cinders. It is better to be a small reality than a grand illusion. It will hurt when you are reduced, it is natural to feel shame; but take pride in your honesty. Particularly with yourself. Shame is not what is meant for you once you accept truth. Shame is an appeal to recognize truth, once it is acknowledged it's usefulness ends. Let grace take over. Your past is not your identity. You are responsible for now & the future. Your "story" is not an excuse. The past is an irrelevant obstacle that can only hinder you by trying to hold onto it as a part of your identity. Relationships are dependent on truth. To maintain a relationship, you have to accept(love) the other for who they are. The past is an irrelevant obstacle that can only hinder the relationship by holding onto it as a part of it's current identity. (See what I did there? Truth does not change). If the past affects your relationship, it is not true love - it is a hostage situation. If it is not honest, it is not love at all, it is selfishness. The truth burns but it is beautiful, without it there is no hope for forgiveness or real love.

General Motors

Detail work, the Guardian building

I used to look back on my life & see a mess, now I see a clear path forward.

Any Intro to Psychology textbook will tell you that our personal experiences significantly influence who we are as individuals. I think it’s safe to say, we all get it. We get the concept so well in fact, that we cite it as an excuse for our weird or bad behaviors. For example: “I watched 'It' as a kid, now I wet myself whenever I see clowns” or “I was told scary stories, now I’m a racist dickhead” (paraphrasing) Here is where human shittiness comes in: we think about how experience effects us and then we stop thinking. To be a decent human being, worthy of the grey matter inside of your skull, you have to keep thinking. “How does this effect me?” is only the first question, part deux being “how does this effect others?” Surprise! The key to “not being shitty” is stop being ridiculously and cosmically selfish. When you make decisions without thinking how it will effect others(directly, emotionally, etc.) you are perpetuating the "me vs. you, us vs. them" kind of selfishness that tears our communities apart. Also, your inability to act responsibly and lack of empathy makes you either a thoughtless jagweed or, if you're more hardcore, a sociopath. Dear humanity, there is no "us vs them," there's just an us and we are killing ourselves. We belong to each other. Homeless children aren't just children, they're OUR children. We are all brothers & sisters who deserve the love, respect, & support that the title warrants.