When you have an awareness of your own struggles, your awareness equips you with a certain kind of empathy - an empathy that is patient and kind, because you know what it's like to struggle. You're slower to judgment when you see someone else struggling, because you've been there.

When you have an awareness of your own struggles, you have a way of holding space that matters more than you know. Even if your stories aren't exactly the same, if you have known pain, you know the value of being seen. You know this deeply and intimately. This is why you do the work you do. This is why you make the art you make. Something deep is driving you. This is why you seek justice when the scales have been drastically unbalanced, in favor of judgment, because you know what it feels like to be on the other side. On the other side of the gossip. On the other side of the rejection. You know what it's like to be the outcast, the different one, the misunderstood one. And one of the things that the struggle has taught you is that you don't want anyone in that position to feel that way.

This is why you keep showing up every day. This is why you do the work you do. You are doing so much more than just traveling through. You care for those in vulnerable places, not only because you feel like you have to, but because deep in the well of your soul, you believe in the power and vitality of love. You know that even when you can't fix things to make it all perfect for someone, it still matters that they feel seen. You have known unknowns in your life, and you have worked through restless nights. You have also known what it means to wake up to morning light. And this deep knowing shines through the work you do. Every new day you are alive is proof that there is more to you.

And while it takes so much courage to be here in this life, things are starting to become a little bit more full circle now. You're starting to see that because you've lived it, you know this: if someone is still in progress, it doesn't mean they are worth any less. And even while you are still healing from some of the wounds that have found you and the words that were said, there's a fire inside of you that wants to make sure others don't feel that way. Your concern and your empathy for others is rooted in love. Love that has not let you go even when you were in the lowest place. May you carry on today giving from the love lined place of your heart. Be present with empathy. Act on hope. Your heart for healing matters more than you know.

Journal: When you hear the word empathy, who comes to mind?

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