Tidal Waves

Photography by Devon Butler

It is how we react within the outcome of change that defines us as individuals. When we allow ourselves to learn, grow, and change, we become stronger and more aware of ourselves. It is a personal choice in how we tackle life and we can either change with it, or be moved aside by it. Only once we have accepted the gravity of change can we begin to calm some the surrounding tidal waves.

I cannot change your tone of your voice, or words you choose to use, but I can change how I listen or whom I listen to. I cannot change the times, but I know how to appreciate the importance of being heard. I cannot change that I still love her, but I can change the way love myself. I cannot change that I’m still dealing with consequences of a past I thought I’d left behind, but somehow life found a lesson I had missed and I’m being pulled back though corridors and calamities. I cannot change the fact that my best friend has cancer, but I can make a stand with her and fight this unwelcome intruder at her side.

Positivity attracts itself, and it seems to be an underestimated practice that deserves more attention in today’s world of obsessive cynicism. Although I have always tried to be positive with advice to friends, I have not always pertained this knowledge into my own lifestyle. The mantra of positivity seemed unrealistic and made me nauseous. But my mother falling ill changed me. We surround our lives with endless clichés and hollow aphorisms that only seem to gain substance when they hit close to home. What do you do, when change becomes a branch of heartache? Do you let it take the time you do have? This moment? Or appreciate it knowing you are being changed forever?