I’VE WONDERED what it means to mature a lot over the last couple of years. What does it mean to be an adult? These words. Labels — what does it mean to be a child.

Maturing is putting others before ourselves, one aspect of it anyway, but one I keep returning to when I ask the question. It’s seeing possibilities outside of this thing called I, often all we see as reality.

We’re supposed to mature as we get older; but I think our childlike spirit keeps us alive.

What does it mean to have a kid; to be in a relationship; to have somebody else besides ourselves to think about?

We have to care for ourselves — discover who we are as we open up to the world.

Maturing is to growing up as caring for ourselves is to selfishness — not mutually exclusive.

But it seems the right thing to do, the only truly right thing, is to be grateful for what we have and what we can do to help. And I’m talking about the smallest things. Smiling. Lending a hand. Listening.

It makes the world a better place. It makes us grow up.

To give more than we take.
Love more than we hate.
Learn from each experience, however we can.

Allow the struggles to come and go more easily each time. There’s no point in holding on. Learn to enjoy every step of the ride — savor this experience called life.

Do You

Fear — the body readies, for what it can’t be sure.
Energy rising in the unfamiliar.
The place where we’re supposed to go.
Stepping up on stage.
Opening our eyes.
Sometimes being kind is the
scariest thing to do.

To see someone else as ourself,
watching the world go by through a different set of eyes.

We’re all doing our best.

We fucking are.

And if we can realize that,
and just keep going.
We can go somewhere together.

Do you.
Opinions, what others think —
they get us so hung up; we have opinions,
others have em’ just as strong.
Mine shouldn’t matter to you
just as yours shouldn’t affect me.
How much energy we give away
fearing what the world will think.

Without the fear there’s room for love.
Love of differences, of being human.
Imperfect and changing.
I don’t wanna stay the same.
I hope you aren’t too.
Hold on to what feels good.
Let the rest just drop away.

Live your own life.
Run your own race.
Create your own light.
When you do the world shines brighter.
And then we glow together.

Fear — we know where we’re
supposed to go.
Where our future self exists,
ready to come alive.

It can feel like there’s a weight holding us down.
To impress, make amends, expectations to be something.
How light this world could be if we could take that weight off.
And float; and perhaps be what we’re meant to be. Butterflies.
No longer crawling under the weight of expectations.

How beautiful the world is,
when you can flap your wings and
see it from above.