Your growth won’t always run parallel with the growth of the people around you. This mismatch teaches you to be patient with others, and thankful for the people who were patient with you while you figured your shit out.

• • •

It’s disconcerting to look at a photo of yourself from the past, and remember exactly how you felt. For a moment, you wish you could transmit your current understanding back in time – but then you remember that the mistakes you made brought you to where you are now.

• • •

The fucked up parts of the world never get any easier to accept, but the world is also very, very beautiful. I sometimes wish I’d learned how to simultaneously hold space for both of these feelings a long time ago – but I’m just grateful that I learned how to do it at all.

• • •

Growth doesn’t mean more happiness. It just means more peace, and peace is more important to me than happiness.