An open love letter

“Each new hour holds new chances for new beginnings. Do not be wedded forever to fear, yoked eternally to brutishness. The horizon leans forward, offering you space to place new steps of change.” – Maya Angelou

Dear soul,

Another year has ended.

You’ve gone through it courageously and managed to hold on to your essence.

You did your best with the tools you were given and created another magical chapter of your survival story.

Today, take time to acknowledge YOU! Look at the steps you’ve been taking to reclaim your sense of equilibrium despite how bumpy and intense this ride was.

Hug yourself; no one deserves your unconditional love more than you.

Bless your body for withstanding the pressure, caress your skin and embrace your inner light that this world couldn’t dim.

Embrace the scars and joy with the same intensity; you wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the full spectrum of the human experience.

“Turn soft and lovely anytime you have the chance.” Jenny Holzer

Remember that particular pain that you thought you’d never get over? It’s a memory now and whether you want to give it the power to haunt you or not is ultimately up to you, it will still hurt and maybe the shattered pieces of your reality won’t ever look the same again, however that crack brought in a new light, a different perspective on life and sparked the fire of transformation deep in your belly. You took that intense pain and morphed it into a victorious reality and a brand new contract by living authentically. Beyond fear, shame and stigma.

It doesn’t matter if no one saw these deep, intense battles; you know what you’ve achieved so far, and for that, a celebration is necessary.

You’ve reached the point of co-creating your reality as opposed to being a reactive entity, you know what you want now and it’s only a matter of putting in the work and claiming everything you know that you deserve.

You are love, infinite and grand. You are the centre of your own universe, and it’s about time you gathered the courage to treat yourself as the ultimate authority in your story.

Access where you have been falling short, realistically yet compassionately.

Write your own sacred affirmations, take care of your physical vessel as much as you do the spiritual, get over the urges to conform and accept that your path is uniquely yours, so it’s ok to improvise along the way, even if you fail over and over again. Let go of the dead weight you’ve been holding on to out of familiarity and fear.

Say “No” more often and guard your boundaries, experiment with art and create something cause that’s how the releasing and healing journey begins, pour the intense loving energy you bestow on others on you first and foremost.

Take deep breaths and hold a pen today.

Write yourself a love letter because it’s way overdue…

“my darling, you are the color of the earth you inherited holy, let no one silence the glory in your bones let no one make you doubt that you are indeed important.” – Upile Chisala

This post originally appeared in Black Femme Witches Brew on 1 January 2018

Ahlam Ali is an intuitive empath, seeking to heal through her words in a process of alchemy, inspired by the ancestral wisdom and unique perspective of black womanhood.

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