You think it's time for a new beginning. You long to start from scratch, so you seek new things - trying like hell to reinvent yourself. Out with the old and in with the world's new. But you'll never create a version of yourself that is as magical and unique as the original. So... just be you.

If I read inspirational words, they better have some pain to back them up. My strength for moving forward has never been sparked by flowery prose calling me and Angel. Tell me how you swallowed Hell, and lived to tell the tale... the 'pain' and your transformation - will inspire me to soar. And I promise you, I will listen.

Promise me this. When you find yourself in need of inspiration, bypass the roses that will clamor aimlessly for attention. And focus on the souls who have actually 'lived' among the thorns.

To the person in my future...I hope you're ready, because I'm going to love you... fiercely. You'll never have to suffer for my past heartache. It's taught me that I need love more than the absence of it. I'm not perfect, nor is my track record. I've experienced a lot of takers in my life - but I'll love you with every part of me that remains.

If you only knew how many sentences I have withheld in hopes that I will be allowed to speak them into your heart one day.

How is it that hearts hold on to memories with the strength of hope and possibilities.

She's fire...but she will not burn you. She knows all too well how it feels to live with ashes.

I am often asked what made me the way I am. And my answer is always this: I've always been me. It just took awhile to find me under all the rubble.

Trying to explain feelings that are foreign to your heart, make communication daunting, even frightful. How does one express sensations that cower in the corners, fearful they will not be accepted by their inspiration?

I am deep. therefore you can't wade in the kiddie pool and expect to find me." - Alfa"And I've never wanted to drown until now." - JmStorm

How to raise sons who respect women:Never give them the opportunity to see you disrespect yourself.

If everyone only gave a fraction of the compassion their hearts are capable of giving... how much suffering could we alleviate in this world?

Your ability to make me feel like I was less than I was, took awhile to recover from. But after ripping my own self worth to shreds for so long, I realized that I wasn't less just because I was more than your inexperienced hands could handle.

I want you. I want you inside and out. The parts you cover with laughter. The depth you shrug off with indifference. I want you. I want you to take me to the place you've hidden your heart. I want to walk by your side on this journey. You're worth it. We're worth it. Because... I want you.

I used to worry about tomorrow, but that was before I survived yesterday. Now it's one breath at a time.

I don't compete against other women. To uplift others means I'm never looking down on them. I applaud their strength, and I remind them that we never know how strong we are until we are tested. And this life will test you... But it's not a competition. I want us all to make it.

Let them howl. Let the wolves pant. You have evolved. You were not fashioned to run in a pack, or to be defined by the opinions of those who wish to limit your creativity. Let them howl. Let the wolves pant.

Show me a little bit of your soul under all those pretty words you spill, and I promise you I will drink every last drop.

You're asking yourself if you will ever get over it. - I don't believe we ever do. Getting over something implies you floated on past the pain, blew kisses, and waved goodbye while leaping to freedom. I've never been able to jump after having the contents of my heart scattered and sewn over fields that will produce memory-laden blooms. The thing is... you get through it. But the seeds have been planted. Those memories grow. And every morning I still hear: 'He loved me. He loved me not.

And I find myself asking again and again.... What was it about such a beautiful man, who was able to leave such ugly scars?

He thought she was like all the rest... that she'd be swayed by his attention and charm. But she got tired of watching him chase his own ass and dealing with his funny farm.

Every word on every page, represents a love that captured this heart... fully, and never set it free.

Our spirits are connected honey. Wrapped in firsts of gnarled heartache. But I promise not to let go if you don't.

I always wanted you close. Never more than a heartbeat away. I used to think I wanted you most when I was at my weakest, and relying on your strength. But the truth is, even on the days I raged like a lion, and had no need of a 'pat on the back' - I still found myself wanting to lean on you.

Tell me about the love you've lost. Maybe my story won't seem so horrifying.

It may happen once or perhaps several times during your lifetime, but you'll meet a 'soulmate'. The bond will be instantaneous. They'll be a perfect fit for the empty indention your heart has for rent, and you'll almost think you 'wished' them into existence. One touch... and every pent-up emotion you have buried, will flood your aching heart. The magic is never more apparent that when you realize each of your souls are a perfect template of each other.

I don't expect you to fight over me... But I do expect you to fight for me... for us.

I'm tired again this morning. Was I sleepwalking in your nightmares again last night?

She's fire. But she won't burn you... she knows all too well, how it feel to live with ashes.

He said he'd never opened up to anyone... But that confiding in me, was like learning to breathe all over again. I don't know about you, but how do you turn away from that?

I wouldn't go back in time to erase you... No. I'd go back just to feel you twice. Then I'd press replay - again and again.

I wanted it to be you. I wanted your eyes to be locked with mine during every fear and tear experienced throughout my lifetime.

If you find yourself still clinging to every feeling you thought was lost forever... Maybe, just maybe, it's the only place you can be found.

I'm not simple. Loving me will never be easy. I bring every travesty that's rocked me- with me, to the table. I won't pretend to be something I'm not, and I don't expect you to be blemish free either. That's much too boring of an existence. A past means you've lived, you've prevailed. My ears are open. My heart is accepting. I want to know how you are. I want to know what made you... and I want to feel free to share the 'not so pretty' parts of me, with you.

The day she realized they were never meant to be, is the day she now calls her - Birthday.

I write about pain so you know you're not alone. I've felt it too. I'm releasing it... in hope that you will too.

I was feeling a bit overwhelmed earlier. Thinking - what if it doesn't work out this time... again. And then I remembered my rebound rate is pretty damn good. It's my super power.

All of the reasons we decided to part, elude me now.

How do you know they aren't the one? At the first sight of total disregard for your hurt, your gut will feel uneasy. I'm reminding you to listen up.

If I had known his favorite game was mental twister, I would have suggested a movie over game night.

Let me be clear. I applaud self love. I appreciate self value. But if you're not capable of loving another person just as much... you will never experience true love.

I never asked anything of him, yet he gave me everything. he did not run...

She wasn't chaos. She was more of a slow burn that caught in your heart... and then you had no choice but to engulf her all at once. She was home.

All he did was breathe life into my soul. I was a conquest. An easy one, and you don't know how badly it hurts to know that I was used and tried for a time. Then thrown back.

I've never met anyone who loves in the same way. But that's the beauty of finding the heart meant for yours. The right love will accept the 'not so lovable' parts of you too.

Like yourself, just as you are. Don't look at people and measure your self love by what they project in order to make themselves happy. Take a long look. You don't want their lives anyway. You don't like anything they do, say, or portray. Why then have you been so hard on yourself? You don't deserve to be treated that way.

I hear you knocking but I can't let you in. The last time almost killed me. Love, My heart

When our eyes met, I felt your intake of breath. I knew then I wasn't alone in my feelings. You were trying to hold on to normalcy as much as me. But baby, what we felt was anything but normal. The damn planet stopped moving... and it didn't start up again until you reached out and touched me.

I have waltzed with wolves and howled at the moon. But my heart will always remember the slow-dance that ended much too soon.

You are not disposable. I know you feel that way when people choose to walk out of your life, but their emptiness causes space. And that vacant area of your life is desperately crying out for the one meant to take up residence. Let the angry tenant go. You don't want someone staying because you've begged and pleaded for their occupancy. You want the one who sees your quaking heart and says: "Honey I'm home".

Love does not pay attention to timetables or knock when it is convenient for you. True love shows up unexpectedly, bags fully packed, daring you to offer it a place to stay.

Love is not complicated. It just 'is'. The complicated part is finding two souls who are feeling it as the same time in their lives... and for each other. Feeling it so deep that they're willing to fight every second of the day to keep it alive. That's the complicated part.

That you were able to walk away, gives me my answer as plain as day.

Be careful with those promises who whisper while wooing and loving someone. There are those that take them to heart, and some who take them to soul.

We are the kind of Love Story that keeps souls awake at night and causes hearts to have stage fright.

I'm still in love with the parts I believed to be true. All the lies that began and ended with 'I love you'.

I loved him... much more than I liked him. And therein was the beginning of the end.

Nothing is as endearing as a handwritten letter scribed by the person who holds your heart spellbound.

Our love is immortal. We have become a love story. I siphoned the moments from my heart and soul, and I have inked them into beautifully bound pages. We live on for another generation to try and understand how the beauty of love can turn into ugly reality.

How I wish I only felt using my hands and not with my whole heart.

I saw a sadness shivering in his eyes that night. They resemble a heart flat-lining. I wanted to ask him what put it there, but he blinked... and it was gone. And I knew that a man who could control pain so exquisitely had no business paying with my heart.

Your memory straddles my mind.

...and he will never grasp that what he calls 'bitching' is merely my heart talking out loud.

She tells everyone she's taken. Yet her heart whispers: he's taking too long.

There are days when my imagination in my enemy. It likes to keep me company in my darkest of times and romanticizes a past that was more of a horror story than a fairytale.

I'm not afraid of anything anymore. I've found out Ghosts don't hide under my bed or in my closets either. They exist in plain sight - everyday; Conjured up by 'our song' playing on the radio. By the mailman's blue eyes that are so like yours I could get utterly lost in them. They come as raindrops, kissing my skin... the way you used to. Ghosts are everywhere.

It was in the words he didn't say... that I found all the answers to my questions.

I wear the words we didn't say. My heart is clothed in them every day.

You think it's easy to forget someone who made you look forward to tomorrow... And I hope you never experience convincing a paralyzed heart to keep on beating when it simply wants to die.

She knows he's not the same. He's different now. The eyes that once held too much contain nothing at all. He is colorless. Faded like sun-drenched wallpaper. The man that stands before her has no answers to her questions, and no ointment for her fears.

Having to explain to someone how they hurt you, always feels like an ass kicking... again.

I had never met another who loved my mind more than my body. I could feel his curiosity finger-walk through my thoughts... intentional and hard. Absorbing me. Learning me. And as he leaned in and held my hand close to his, I heard my soul sigh... in a deep grateful breath.

... And one day it dawned on me that I had spent entirely too much time waiting on you to grow a voice box.... and the balls to use it.

I have no doubt that Taylor Swift will call one day after suffering writers block: "Alfa, I was told that you were the person to call." I gotcha girlfriend.

He kissed her good morning like she was the reason sun decided to shine.

They beg you for transparency. Yet when you give them a peek behind the curtain shrouding your hear, they run in sheer fright.

There are days when I want to dip my soul in memories and just soak. Then there are others where I'm praying they'll be washed away.

I never needed a Man. I needed a Viking. I needed someone who wasn't afraid of my strengths, or of my needs. I chose wrong... in the past. I thought I had to find someone who could put up with my hunger for life. But I was so damn wrong. I needed a Viking. I needed someone who would admire all the things about me that tepid men were intimidated by.

... I don't know what I feel anymore, or maybe it's that I don't know HOW to feel anymore. I question every move I make, every breath I take, and every flutter of an eyelash. I've developed a twitch from always being on guard. I'm alert at night, and numb during the day, but I'm always ready. Maybe, I can intercept tragedy from striking again.

What is it about those unresolved endings that cause you to question every decision when you're trying to move forward?

I hurt in places that you brought back from the dead. Now I have to lay them to rest again.

I didn't have to say a word. My love for him appeared upon my flesh like virgin tattooed skin.

Keep yourself as busy as you can. Try and forget. But even with 7 billion other distractions... you don't forget me.

He loved me, but in a lukewarm way. I needed scalding, but he loved in one temperature; tepid.

In case you didn't know... You are her. The one he let get away.

Your ability to make me feel like I was less than I was took a while to recover from. But after ripping my own self worth to shreds for so long, I realized that I wasn't less just because I was more than your inexperienced hands could handle... and that is your loss.

Heartache wasn't my intention... love was.

They will talk about you and it won't always be good. You won't even know them but they will critique you - and judge you - and everything you stand for. Their words will cut through your heart-strings and make you question the hopes and dreams that have gnawed your soul since birth. I warn you, because I believe your unique gift of expression needs to be shared. Resist cowering down and holding back for fear of rejection. Spread those creative wings and create. But, prepare yourself. Because naysayers are not a possibility, they are a guarantee.

I did not willingly let half of my soul leave my body. It was torn from me. I still hear the ransomed moans. It calls to me for rescue, yet clings to its abductor.

She was a warrior by day... playing her part. But she slept at night with wishes in her heart.

I don't want comfortable. My heart is not a recliner.

Her mind is a mess, and she has no intention of cleaning today.

There is lonely, and there is alone time. I have found that both have etched character upon my soul.

I scream out the ropes of words that bound my tongue, and the heavens echo back...'I love you'.

I am vulnerability under scarred skin. Numbness crawling behind wine soaked lips. A cocoon of grief battling a chest full of hushed breaths, longing to escape the mod-podge of memories, that journal where I've been. Layer after layer they are sealed upon my person, encapsulating time in a vessel that has sailed one too many shores.

She'd been taking care of others for so long that she scarcely recognized herself when she looked in the mirror.

Love yourself. That kind of love can get you through anything.

I am worthy of touch without bartering my self worth.

Experience taught me that when pride wins... we all lose.

How long will you fake at living life? What will it take for you to see the beauty you've neglected while wearing the dirty lies expected of you?

Just because she doesn't talk about it, doesn't mean she isn't feeling it. She hurts, but she won't wear it on her sleeve. She will never let an illness, a diagnosis, or a prediction, define her. She doesn't want sympathy, because that type of attention is not her goal. She'd rather you see the woman who smiles in the face of adversity, than be the one who begs you to see her frown.

Lost is not a place. It's a soul in paralysis... waiting to feel moved.