on bearing the weight of our humanity

we cannot do it alone.

nor are we meant to.

all of the beauty, joy, laughter, hope, is meant to be shared.

and so is all of the brokenness, pain, despair.

because each moment holds a little bit of both of these kinds of things. and trying to bear the weight of all of this alone is very nearly impossible.

we are better together, being held up and held by each other. we need other voices around us to keep us from getting stuck in our own heads and hearts.

fear keeps us isolated, because while we cannot do it alone, we also tend to do it imperfectly, making mistakes and hurting people as we go. it is easy to fear the potential pain that vulnerability to others opens us up for. but with the courage to love boldly in the face of that fear, it does not win. love wins, and love is always worth the risk. and we learn and grow along the way.