Damsel in Distress

©Katherine Kurz

In moments we feel weak and unable, it’s not because we are incapable of standing up to the situation at hand or the world in general; it’s simply because we feel that way. Be it due to exhaustion (physical or mental), because of too many things taking a wrong turn simultaneously, or because we are too tired of the same things happening over and over again. It’s not that we can’t face the challenges we are presented with. It’s rather that we don’t really want to.

It’s uplifting to know that you don’t have to face everything alone. We’re not calling for a hero when in distress to save us. We just want someone alongside us to motivate us to save ourselves. We simply need a small boost to rise up ourselves. It’s inspiring to have someone believe in you, be proud of you, and simply stand by you.

Of course we can survive alone. We have provenly done so for so long. But given a choice otherwise, wouldn’t you want the company and the support?

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What you don’t know

Sometimes what you don’t know will actually save you.

Because sometimes it is better to be shielded from the reality you know but don’t want to see.

 It’s easier to live in refusal of what is actually happening than face the truth that may shatter your insides.

There is a reason why it is said that “ignorance is bliss”. Because what you don’t know, won’t hurt you.

There is a great difference in sensing reality than actually experiencing it first-hand. Because for as long as you’re not witness to it, you still carry hope. And it that very hope is what helps you survive.

It’s not always fine

The truth is noone cares about your problems.

Every person has something of their own their dealing with.

And everyone considers their own circumstance more special, more serious, more tragic.

It’s sometimes difficult to even find ways to help each other.

And more often than not we tire of repeating our problems; it feels that we’re constantly accentuating them. But sharing often helps lessen the load. It alleviates part of the burden simply by expressing how it’s all making you feel to someone else, someone you trust and feel safe with. That’s what (real) friends are for. To help you unload when hardship strikes. They’re there at your worse, and not only when it’s all fun and games. But it also depends on you and how much you let people in.

The truth is, no one can comprehend what you’re going through unless they’ve experienced something similar. And not everyone will deal with the same things in the same way with the same mentality.

But we need each other to get through things. To maintain our sanity, our peace of mind; to survive.

Life is not always fine. Sometimes neither are you. But it’s your choice to let others help restore that.

Scorched earth

It is something you hope and pray you will never have to experience. What others do not even wish upon their foes. It is something you cannot even bring yourself to imagine. You read it in history books and saw it in movies – the volcanic ash burying an entire city alive in Pompeii in 79 AD – but you never thought it would happen so close to you, or rather to you.

You looked away when in movies people were burnt alive. Or were screaming because they were drowning. But now. Now it became a reality, developing right in front of your eyes. A raging fire aided by gushing winds and, suddenly, property became ashes and lives disappeared within seconds.

You didn’t want to even think about what it was like to lose everything. Now you have to answer for yourself.

You were looking forward to a summer, one that would create new memories, not one where you would consider yourself lucky if you even survived it.

‘Painful’ cannot even begin to describe it all. Whatever others say, do or act will never appease you. It won’t bring anything back. It won’t make anything better.

You lie on the ground outdoors on a rugged blanket someone donated. You look at the starry night not because you’re out camping or because you want to, but because there is no other option and there is nowhere else to be.

And all you can do is hope.

That it will not rain.

The way the light gets in

In Japan, broken objects are often repaired with gold. This art of repairing pottery with gold or silver lacquer is called “kintsukuroi” and it also entails the understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken. The flaw is seen as a unique piece of the object’s history, which adds to its beauty.

So there’s a soothing thought to have in mind whenever you feel broken.

Whatever it is, time manages to heal it or at least allows you to become stronger in order to live with it. And even if you are left with wounds, just consider that scars are part of your story too; they are proof that you can survive.

“Scars show us where we have been, they do not dictate where we are going” – David Rossi

“We are all broken. That’s how the light gets in” – Ernest Hemingway

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Broken

The dormant volcano

They say that you never truly develop unless you face what you fear. Because you can never truly know what you’re capable of unless you’re forced to deal with circumstances you never thought you could survive from. To allow yourself to get exposed to the risks you fear of taking.

It’s when you realise that you hide much more inside than even you yourself thought was possible. When you acknowledge that a person will only find their limits when they push themselves towards them. Or like Eleanor Roosevelt said, “you must do the thing you think you cannot do”. And just like the fact that you cannot grow unless you are willing to change, and sometimes even surpass the things you fear, there are certain circumstances – or even people – that bring out the best in you.

We all have emotions, abilities, potential, that is hidden, dormant, within, waiting for the right inspiration, time, person to surface, to be awakened and expressed. It’s how you grow and evolve into who you want to be and who you can be.

It’s how you become a better version of who you are.

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Exposure

The curse of a leap year

There is this question that will often set your mind in motion: “what would you do if you had an extra day to live?”

Every four years, we get that extra day. An additional 24 hours to do pretty much anything we want to do.

So, how do you spend it?

Do you stay in bed a little longer? Do you try to get more work done? Do you enjoy more time with friends? Do you exercise? Do you laugh more?

Do you experience what that extra day is there for? To realise how lucky you are to have survived so far and to be strong and healthy enough to continue even further? To be able to surround yourself with people you love, doing what you enjoy, and relishing every single moment?

Some say a leap year with that strange extra day is a curse because it is so rare. But, like everything in life, it’s all a matter of perspective.

And however you spend your day(s) is also a matter of choice.

Just remember that whatever you choose to do, do it with all your heart.

Surviving the jungle

It’s amazing how the smallest of things can trigger the biggest outbreak you’ve ever had. How all that sadness and anguish that for so long you’ve been burying inside of you can come trickling out like molten lava from a dormant volcano that suddenly erupts. It doesn’t really take that much in the end to make the world tremble.

Sometimes, no matter how much or how far you run, emotions catch up with you. And it usually happens faster than you think. And certainly when you least expect it.

So you’re up from the break of dawn one day sending emails and catching the wrong bus, trying to orientate yourself in this jungle we call world. You go about your business, suppressing any thoughts that might jeopardise this pretentious sanity that you demonstrate. And then suddenly, when everything seems to be going right for you, you take a left turn. You accidentally fall onto an old message. One that reminds you of tender times. Of just a few months ago when everything was so different.

And then it comes.

The eruption.

You begin to question everything.

And can forget nothing.

The tragically funny thing is that we always run back to times when everything was OK, forgetting the hardship that we once had to go through to get there. Because in the end that is not what matters. It is not so much the bad, but it is the good that remain imprinted in your heart. The hard moments are there to make you stronger, wiser and more resilient. They are there so you can learn to appreciate more the good times.

So all you really have to do is ride out the storm. The sun will shine again soon enough.

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Set It To Rights

The tunnel

She first saw him on a sunny day, in a field strewn with golden hay. He gazed into her eyes with a smile imprinted on his face. She blushed and smiled back, eyes sparkling like diamonds in the sun. He came closer and let his fingertips brush against her arm. She chuckled and lowered her gaze.

Ahead was a tunnel. It mystified and intrigued them at the same time. It was one none had traversed before and it conveyed a sense of foreboding inside them, of exploring the unknown. It made them feel excited, sending shivers down both their spines and rapidly increasing the beats of their hearts. Their hands locked and they entered. Together.

The tunnel was as mysterious and unnerving inside, as it appeared from the outside. It smelled of roses and lilies and offered them food and drink and luxuries to fill their heart’s desire. At first. For later, no-one was to expect what would ensue.

It was surprisingly brightly lit for a tunnel. They realized only too late that it was their own glow that provided the light.

When the first storm came they had nowhere to hide. The tunnel had only one exit and that lay straight ahead. There were no sidesteps, no alcoves, to shade them from the wrath of a suppressed storm. Yet they never let go of each other’s hand. Even if they held on by a finger, they still held on.

After the storm, peace and calm soon followed. And everything seemed to return to the bright, tranquil path in which they had commenced their journey.

“I thought we’d never come back from that one.” This was the first thought both had, grateful they still had each other.

But they soon grew tired. Of walking. Of waiting. Of expecting. It seemed that they were looking for a way out that never came. It was not yet even in sight. And the storm returned. Heavier and more forceful than the first. Everyone told them to be aware of storms and the lightening, but no-one ever warned them of the thunder that came along. For the bangs were deafening and shuddered the very center of their hearts.

They survived yet again, but it was not the same. Something had been broken inside and they could no longer enjoy the tranquilities after the rain, as they first did. Yet they still held hands. Even as the tunnel darkened more and more.

Three years, seven months and 19 days they spent in the tunnel.

When they finally found the exit at the other end, they felt the last winter snowflakes splash onto their nose. It was a pleasant coolness from the humidity from which they emerged. They smiled, but it was a crooked smile. One almost forced. The melancholy released from their prolonged sigh wafted in the air around them. And in the second blink of an eye, the sun appeared from behind the clouds, restoring its light on their darkened eyes. But it could no longer retain the glow of their souls.

They had surfaced from the tunnel seemingly unscathed, but inside, they would never be the same again. They were not the same people they were when they entered. He looked in her eyes and searched for that initial sparkle, but it was gone. And she could no longer fix a smile upon his face. They could not recognize each other anymore.

And that is when it happened.

Their hands unlocked and drifted to their respective sides.

The pain in their heart was more than they could ever bear, but all they could do was struggle to go on.

Yet they always vividly remembered their tunnel journey with its memory forever engraved in their souls.

The tunnel experience made them stronger, for it too made them wiser in the ways of this world.

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Use It or Lose It