How I Am, Starting Now

I exist in this moment at the quiet edge of a closing chapter, a calm peace surrounding me. It is the kind of stillness that comes after long reflection, when the past no longer demands explanation but gently rests where it belongs.

The years I have lived in this lifetime hold both pain and joy, and I can now see them woven together without resistance. The difficult moments and the beautiful ones have each played their part. They were challenges that taught me about myself, about resilience, and about my humble place among the many souls sharing this human journey.

This new chapter now begins. I do not know what it will bring. I do not know who will enter my life or who may leave it. But I feel ready to meet whatever comes with honesty and integrity, living authentically as the person I truly am.

I no longer feel the need to pretend to care for those who only pretend in return. I will not fight battles that were never mine to fight, and I am no longer interested in searching endlessly behind the masks people wear.

Selfishness, pettiness, and rude projections no longer deserve my energy. I release relationships that are not reciprocated, without anger but with clarity.

In this next chapter of life, my priorities are simple and essential: my health; my peace; my creativity; and my love.

Through it all, I remain grateful. I hope to add my small light to the darkness where I can as I continue onward.

Linda Joy Walder