G.G. Renee Hill via writergang

curated by justoutherepoeting

When I receive praise about my external, it is almost always one that stems from the way the corners of my mouth turn upward and the way they part to reveal stained teeth. The way my eyes disappear beneath the hood of my eyelids, an honest attempt of my face to make room for my smile. Glorious, it's been called. No compliment has quite topped that adjective but I carry them all just as proudly because it gives me joy to know that my act of joy gives others who encounter and experience it that same joy. Our smiles become a shared experience and for that gift I am very thankful for how graciously I receive this compliment and furthermore how graciously I greet and receive others.

I spent a whole paragraph describing what that particular acknowledgment of my features does to me, but this next part will be brief. The praise I love to receive the most is that of my writing. When someone compliments a piece I've written or reaches out to me to collaborate because they love or admire my transparency in my relationship with a paper and pen, I am humbled, I am grateful, I am loved. Because of that I know writing is where I am home.