Week 2.28: Fragile Strength

Week 2.28: Fragile Strength is a photo of a lovely teacup that I drank out of recently. It's not my teacup. I got to use it at a tea/birthday party I recently attended. I know it might sound crazy, but this gorgeous cup made my tea taste incredible. The curling details of the handle, the opalescent shine with gold accents and the floral motif inside and out had something to do with it.

Fragile Strength. Exquisite. Complex. Admirable. Lovely. Useful. Delicate.

I've been having running conversations with a couple of people in my life about the pain they've been feeling as of late. Pain over changes in a relationship. Pain over things turning out to be other than ideal. Pain over a life path that wasn't and isn't "the dream." Pain over having to pull one's self up by the bootstraps...but not really knowing where those bootstraps are exactly. Pain over having to stand on one's own two feet and the sense that this approach is going to be a dismal failure. Pain over real or imagined perceptions of their own shortcomings.

Fragile Strength. Genuine. Tenuous. Ethereal. Complicated. Unique. Desirable.

It plays out in various stages and on various levels dependent on the person. Life is not neat and clean and easily predictable. I've always marveled at how certain people seem destined for greatness yet settle for mediocrity. Or how certain other people surprise me with a hidden strength that they pull out in the proving time. Common threads that weave throughout this running conversation involve fear of the unknown or a general sense that things are not as they should be.

Fragile Strength. Imperfect. Beautiful. Resilient. Determined. Inspiring. Cherished.

But at the end of the day someone is rooting for you. Someone is rooting for me. And even though one may have fought their way through anxiety or sleeplessness or tearfulness or waves that threaten full-blown panic attacks, someone is on your side. When you feel like you don't have any other options. When all is bleak. When dark seems to be the only light, someone is rooting for you.

Fragile Strength. Surprising. Delightful. Interesting. Worthy. Welcomed. Captivating.

I know these things I say are true because I am a living, breathing human being (more specifically: a girl) who has battled her way through some pretty rough junk. I am a girl who has been dealt a tough hand and still pulled through. I'm a girl who fights off waves of panic. I'm a girl who fully commits to whatever is in front of her. I 'm a girl who believes that her friends are worth fighting for. I'm a girl who knows that people and relationships are complex and totally rewarding.

I am Fragile Strength.

It's not all sorted out, but I want to sort it out. And I'm moving in that direction. Life's been messy. It probably always will be, but the people in my life make it all worth the while. And whatever strength I have, I'm giving it back to all the people who matter in my life.

Because, you, too, are Fragile Strength.

I thought about naming some names here, but because some of my friends have shared pretty deep confidences, I won't. You know who you are. You Fragile Strengths. I love you.

And to the straight-up Strengths in my life: Thank You. In the most recent times, Bernadette, Kitten, Sweet Georgia Peach, Missus, Schmee, Momee Bee, Nacey, Butterfly/Nessa, H. May, Cory, Judy, Kelly, Wren, Maple, Manda, Wahkuna, Mom and Dad...just to name a few. You have my eternal appreciation and admiration. I love you.

Fragile Strengths remember: "The pain passes, but the beauty remains." ~Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), French Impressionist painter