Surrender to the swell –
The crescendo of emotion,
In one moment focus,
On all the beauty and all the bad.
Let it rip you apart;
Let it put you together.
In each second, an eternity,
Ready to turn inward,
Look and see
All you’ve made you.

Feel with each breath,
The special regret,
Of wayward chances,
Missed out of fear.
Where you stand here,
The result of every fantastic
And every devastating
Choice.

Hope all the vices
And virtues you grasp
Aren’t projected falsely
Onto the recent past.
Good deed and
Vicious word and
Apathetic neglect.
All of the above, subject
To careful consideration.

Know that the unexamined life
Is, indeed, not worth living.
That being vulnerable is
Being human;
Beyond what lies on the surface,
What hurts us,
Is what inspires us
To make great art.
Never mourn a broken heart,
Or a lost way, or a failure,
Each experience can be tailored
To suit a new passion,
To form a new masterpiece.
Never cease trying
For fear of feeling.

Jessie Gutierrez