My darling,
For 2016:

1.)  I hope you know you have nothing to prove.
2.)  Please stop wanting to end life early. Every sunrise is made for you. Realize that every night the moon kisses you good night and the stars ask that you choose to stay.
3.)  I hope you find time to be more grateful.
4.)  I hope the world surprises you with beautiful things in return. I hope what is normal never becomes boring to you, and you always see things with a sense of wonder. I hope you still believe in magic.
5.)  If it’s past midnight and you’re still awake for no reason, go to sleep. Rest. Clear your head. You will have more strength tomorrow.
6.)  Stop hiding behind your sadness. Wipe your tears, let it go. Learn how to be alone without hurting.
7.)  Learn to actually be there for people. You will be amazed how good real companionship feels. Believe me, you don’t appreciate your friends enough. Show them. Share your life with them. Be happy together.
8.)  Cherish that guy. He loves you; stop doubting it. Be there for him, not because he needs you, but because that’s where you want to be. Protect each other.
9.)  I think you already know who you are, deep inside. And it’s not how you think of yourself on a bad day; it’s not how greatly others think of you. You’re confused now but you’re trying. One day you will be greater than all of this, and you won’t even realize it.
10.)  I hope this is the year you become everything you want to be, but with a heart like yours, you will always want more: to do more good in the world; to be better, kinder; love deeper, love truly. Despite your struggle, I hope you realize you’re already all you must be.
11.)  Continue to live in the best way you know how.

Shed all the pain of past hurtings,
It taints your furure,
Forgive.

Remove fear of future disappointments,
It  denys you laughter,
Believe.

My New Year's Resolution
is not to keep a running count of unfixed nicks and cracks along my foundation
i want to train myself to understand that the blemishes and smudges i see when i look into a mirror are not real because the beholder is broken and the beholder is me.
i want to sit down at a table with myself and have an honest conversation
stop telling myself that my accomplishments are amateur and meaningless
i want to stop wiping my name off the trophies in my brain with nail polish remover
give myself credit where credit is due
i want higher self esteem, don't you?

Note well, all you New Year's mad hatters,
It's the future that really matters,
With all your joyous bevies and beers,
Blazing fireworks and raucous cheers,
What does really matter,
All you party hearty mad hatters?
What's our New Year's resolutions,
As we commence our anticipation?
What about peace as liberation?
Or making extinct extinction,
For all our human population,
And our animal populations?
Can we think of any new solutions,
Beyond reafforestation?
How can we end terrorism?
Which masks the real perdition--
Running the world on munitions....
Very unpopular thoughts, my dears,
One of my muse's strange ideas,
How can we create a better place,
For everyone in the human race?
So, all you New Year's mad hatters,
It's all our futures that matter.

It's time to stop living like this
don't you know

I’ve had coming home
and I’ve had fireworks
and then,
and then,
there’s you.

And you are,
heartfelt smiles
on the face of a stranger,
And you are,
fields of flowers
with faces tipped to the sun,
And you are,
fogged bathroom mirrors
painted in condensation hearts.

And you, you are,
a resolution
worth keeping, and keeping, and keeping.

the walls are the same.

not much has altered
since the clock struck
twelve.

alone in bed,
watching a display
of fireworks
serve as the baton
to usher in
another year
in a new garb,
custom made
for the most part.

long-forgotten
adrenaline reminds
me
of all those things
taken for granted
the previous year.

lists
and
resolutions
eat away at the corners
of my mind;

a tab
that stands  
unaccounted for.

Everyone is your friend unless proven otherwise

2. If he doesn’t answer, don’t keep sending texts. If he cared to talk to you, he would’ve responded.

3. Getting no message is also a message.

4. Don’t mistake knives with flowers when handed to you.

5. Sit on the floor of your shower until you can breathe again. Water will always love to love your skin.

6. Start writing with the intention of filling up one page. Write until your pen stops working and your hearts stops bleeding.

7. You are never anyone’s anything. You are not made to be owned.

8. Don’t make compromises you can’t live with. Compromise is a different version of what you want, not a whole other universe.

9. “No.” is a full sentence. Learn to use it.

10. Learn new vocabulary – because why the **** not? Write down your new words that you learn while reading, use them in conversations; expand your vocab, because when you are sitting there on the bus ride to real life, you’ll be glad you have.

11. Don’t expect people to walk through fire for you.

12. Don’t always be so **** prepared to walk through fire for others. Love doesn’t mean sacrifice. Love shouldn’t mean sacrifice.

13. Learn to let people pass through your life; like a summer breeze, not a storm that’s just been unleashed.

14. Sleeping is not possible when you’re angry or sad.

15. Love yourself the way you loved yourself at ten, before the world had a chance to fill your head with ugliness.

16. You don’t drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.

17. Plan things. Have something to look forward to.

18. Music isn’t about a social projection of your personality. Love what you love and don’t ever be sorry for it.

19. Forgive, but never forget.

20. Train your mind to see the good in everything.

21. Do not spend your life searching for a place to call home. Make the bones in your skeleton the only structure you need.

22. Patience is amazing. Waiting is hard, but worth it.

23. People will make time for you when they care about you. If they say they’re too busy or constantly if they constantly cancel their plans, they don’t care. People fight for you when they care.

24. Care. Not many people give a crap anymore.

25. Don’t try to be pretty. You were meant to burn down the earth and graffiti the sky. Don’t let anyone ever simplify you to just “pretty”.

26. Love burns out.

27. We are not responsible for what we have come to be, but if who you are doesn’t make you happy, then take a different path.

28. It’s nobody’s job to fix you. He just has to be there to hold you’re hand while you try to fix yourself.

29. If we could decide who we loved it would be a lot simpler, but much less magical.

30. Do not set yourself on fire to keep others warm.

31. Find your people. I don’t mean someone who also likes the same tv shows as your or someone who shares your love for cereal. Your people will bring out the best in you. Your people that you can talk to until 3 in the morning and feel like your heart has grown.

32. Take a bath. Sleep in. Eat fruits and vegetables. Drink lots of water. Go for long walks. Treat yourself. Love your body. Exhale.

33. Create a plan that will be enjoyable for exercise and just do it. –no ******* around this year.

34. Take the bricks they used to throw at you and build a ******* castle.

35. Always bring a sweater. Even if you think it won’t be cold.

36. Pay attention to what people say when they’re angry. When you make up and they tell you they didn’t mean any of it, know that they did. Also know that they wish they didn’t. But they did.

37. You’re not over it if it still makes you angry.

38. Read more. Read classics, read newspapers, read magazines, read fictional books, read joke books,
read poems. Just read.

39. Do not let what he wants eclipse what you need.

40. Bleed for better reasons this year.