There’s a lot of things I wish my parents taught me when I was younger
But I wish they taught me the importance of cultivating deep and meaningful relationships with many people
That one person cannot fulfill all your needs
And so each person can meet different ones
Each relationship can provide you insight on yourself
Each relationship is a window into the portal of your own soul
It is a different world where you meet and engage with the beautiful complexities of another person’s mystery as well as your own
Getting to know another person is also a chance or opportunity to get to know yourself
There are many different levels of friendships
Ranging from superficial and light to emotionally gripping and deep
Each serve their own purpose in your life
Do not belittle or praise one more than the other

One moment you’re strangers
The next
They’re your closest companion
How does that come to be

I believe that conversations
Ones that require authenticity and vulnerability
Dictate the degree of change and closeness
That happens in a relationship
Regardless of its type
Romantic
Platonic
Mentorship

It’s the conversations where one broken yet brave soul smiles and acknowledges the other that is deeply hidden in another
It’s the conversations at 3 in the morning
While you’re both on the phone as you slowly fall asleep
The conversations that have awkward silences where you smile and bite your lip
The conversations that reveal the other and your own character
The conversations that let you meet another aspect of yourself
The conversations that touch your inner child

One conversation can transform your relationship with that person
It can lead you down a different future
With yourself

The moth flies in circles,
Forever distracted by the light.

Surely it must be the moon,
Telling it where to go.

Yet as long as it remains on,
The moth shall never escape.

For it is in the moth's nature
to always follow the light.

Until the time comes
that the moth is not but ash.

I’m often misunderstood
Reduced to my stereotype
By those who don’t get the privilege of knowing me
And most people often are treated the same
Which is why
When I am understood
Seen and truly heard
Stereotypes aside
It is The greatest gift another can give me