A Raft for your Reader

This prompt came from Kicking In the Wall by Barbara Abercrombie.

*Note: The writers prompt said to go for 5 minutes, I am going for a minimum of 15 minutes for every one. You do whatever time feels good for you. The only rule is to keep writing no matter what.   

You are made of the same stuff the entire universe is made of, stardust and atoms and exploding bangs echoing into eternity. You are part magic, part miracle. You are the void and you are matter. You. Matter. 

It’s easy to forget that we do when comprehending the enormity of the universe and our puny place in it. It’s easy to forget that this dash in between two completely made up years, our birth and our death, means something. However fleeting. However irrelevant we might be. We partook in the dance. We are embodied carbon. We got to experience this chaotic mess in flesh and bones and breath.

Whatever our challenges are—they are ours. Life is a challenge to survive. Don’t give up. Ever. When you feel like you can’t swim any more, when the rip tide has you and it’s pulling you out to sea, just float. Go with the flow. Sometimes we need to fight and something we need to float and knowing the difference is a wisdom that comes with age.

Gratitude can chase even the darkest of days away. Even when you’re underwater, drowning in darkness, suspended in muffled silence, gratitude can be the light, it can be the hand that reaches into the depths and pulls you up for another breath—even if you go under again. Gratitude can be the inch that unfolds into a mile.

You are valuable. You. Matter. You are a priceless original hanging in the halls of the museum of humanity. You’re a Monet. Every single brushstroke will never be the same. Every single freckle and pattern on your body, will never be made in exactly the same space in the same time again. 

Okay maybe it will be made again when they start cloning us. Or fuck for all we know, maybe they already did and we’re out there, perfect replicas. But even our potential clones don’t have the same scars. They don’t have the same life experience. Individual notes creating the perfect symphony.

No one is exactly like you. You are completely unique and your voice and perspective and life force…matters. When you’re drowning in depression or fear and your brain is telling you lies about the meaninglessness of it all—I hope these words reach you. I hope these two words are the raft you cling to: You matter. 

We need you. Life needs you or you wouldn’t be here. 

And life is always right.