Changing the Message
We need to change the way we speak to our children.
The stories we hand down—the warnings, the guilt, the fear—they shape not just how our children see the world, but how they believe they’re allowed to exist in it.

If we change the message, we can change perception.
If we change perception, we can change the future.

Too often, we speak in threats:
“There are too many people.”
“There isn’t enough to go around.”
“If you don’t act now, it’ll be too late.”
“If you don’t obey, you don’t deserve love, or joy, or even salvation.”

Even religion, once intended to teach love and restraint, has become a source of shame.
Yes, faith gave us structure. It helped early societies define right from wrong.
But today, that same faith—especially in the form of Christianity—has been co-opted.
Twisted into politics.
Wielded as a weapon.
Used to divide, to judge, to impose guilt instead of grace.

People are made to feel like their worth is tied to obedience.
Like their future depends on conformity.
And like the only way to be “good” is to believe exactly what they’re told.

That is not the message we want our children to inherit.
That is not the kind of future we want them to build.

We must evolve.
Keep the compassion. Keep the reverence. Keep the community.
But strip away the guilt.
Cut out the fear.
Unravel the political agendas wrapped in scripture.

We are not here to raise children who cower.
We are here to raise children who create.

So I ask again:
How do we change the message?
How do we raise a generation that is grounded in truth, guided by empathy, and free from inherited fear?

The only thing
I’ve ever truly had to give
is myself.

A piece of me,
left behind in every place I’ve been,
in every hand I’ve held,
in every heart I’ve touched.

I gave all I had
freely, fully,
without expectation.

But there are those
who thought I did not give enough,
so they took
what they needed from me.

But what they took
was always mine to give.

That~
was my gift.

Heart breaks
Lonely, without a sound.
Not heard,
Only felt.

Days drift alone,
No conversation
To carry the hours.
Phone: silent.
No name lights the screen.
No voice checks in.

Walks empty.
Hands open.
Voice still,
Directed elsewhere.
Even the echoes
Have grown tired of me.

Doors stay locked.
A lifeless home.
One light remains
A lonely shadow
Flickering on the wall,
Moving only when I do.

The coffee brews for one.
The bed sleeps cold on one side.
Laughter is memory,
Tucked in the corners
Like dust I never clean.

Time doesn’t pass here
It settles.
It lingers
Like smoke
In a room without windows.

I talk to no one.
I answer to silence.
I smile at strangers
Who never look back.

And still,
I wait,
For footsteps
That never fall,
For a knock
That never comes.

You capture my thoughts
Held fast by your presence,
A mirror of our moments,
Lost in conversation’s essence.

Late for class,
Floating through the lessons,
Images of your silhouette
Dancing in my mind.

With no hope of reprieve,
I surrender completely
To the one who derails me,
My favorite distraction.
That… is you.

You visited me last night,
In your angelic, glowing light.
I saw your shadows dance with mine,
Your golden hair, a holy sign.

Your smile, it wrapped around my fear,
A gentle pull, you drew me near.
No need for words, no need for sound,
Your presence was where peace is found.

You brought me comfort, soft and true,
A moment shared with only you.
One I won’t forget or hide
It lives in me, it grows inside.

Your hand reached out to calm my soul,
In silence, somehow made me whole.
Your aura wrapped the night in grace,
I saw the stars light up your face.

To be with you
it stilled my mind,
A sacred hush, a rare rewind.
Though brief, your light erased my fear,
And left a warmth that lingers here.

When morning came, you slipped away,
But I still feel you in the day.
So if you can, return in flight
And find me on some quiet night.

My past haunts me.
I don’t even like to sleep anymore
’Cause when I close my eyes,
Every face,
Every life I interrupted,
Every soul I shattered
Comes flashing back in the dark.

I’ve learned to live with it,
But I’ll never forget it.
I can’t break any more hearts

Not when I still hear the ones I broke
Beating in the silence.

The trail of tears I left behind
Revisits me nightly,
And I walk it alone.