It was the storm of a lifetime. The storm of the century. It fell fast and it fell hard, and now you are too full of salt and water to hold yourself. If you don't open the flood gates, if you don't let the tears follow the rain, the dam is going break, your heart will break with it, and everything you've fought for will be washed completely away.

“My heart is in pieces,” she said.

“So are the stars,” I replied, “the most beautiful things always are.”

Darling,
you’re not falling apart,
you’re getting rid of the pieces
that no longer serve your purpose.
This is surgery of the spirit,
and it can be painful as hell.

You can't make a flower bloom.
You can shine all you want
but it won't open
until it's ready.

Hope.
Follow it
wherever it takes you.

It's the only thing
in this world
that will
give you
a fighting chance.

One day they will arrive
unannounced and unexpected,
they will love you
in all of the places
where you have been unable
to love yourself,
and it will be either
the most beautiful
or the most terrifying experience
that you have ever known.

Yes,
you will rise from the ashes,
but the burning comes first.

For this part,
darling,
you must be brave.