Bright lights, the beat of the music beneath my feet. Distant chatter, quite whispers. The feeling of joy, loss, heartbreak, and loneliness surround me. Buried in a crowd, drowning under the gazes of people who look through you.
I am but of glass, a mirror if you will, willing to be seen through, but not seen. Screaming in a room full of people when no one can hear you, let alone see you. Hidden breaths, rising, falling.
Isn't that funny, falling? Laughing would be easier than standing here in the crowded place, filled with people, faces, judging every moment the other makes. I could tell you the peace I get standing alone in a room filled with people who only see you as a mirror for who they don't want to be.
I could cry tears of blood, and non would ever so much bat an eye in my direction, but I love it. The feeling of being unseen as to appose being seen for the matieral object I once was.
Silent, unmoving, unwilling. I am but an idea, glass, shatterable, broken beyond compare. But strong, resistance flows through me. Willing me to be the best I can be, but can I? Who says I make sense, who says I am even me, am I? That's a question I spent years wondering. Who would I be without these scars that tether my skin, marking each even, like a calender.
To mend the feelings people have isn't a easy thing, but to break is easy, always easy. How easy it is to forget, to run.
I can feel the ground beneath my feet, feel the soil in-between the crooks of my toes, I could describe to you the smell of the rain. Pinpoint the center of the earth, but as I stand here, again amongst the crowd of people stand in this room. I am lost again, an idea, but for what purpose?
If I could run, navigate my way through this crowd, I would seek refuge somewhere dark and cold, where I could take off this cloak and be one with who I am, or want to be.
I never planned on telling my story. Truth is, I've spent most of my life holding it in, swallowing the pain, laughing off the shade, putting on a mask when deep down I was fighting battles no one could see. But the older I got, the more I realized silence can eat you alive. And if I don't tell it raw and unfiltered, then who will?
This book isn't polished for perfection. It's not sugarcoated, it's not dressed up to make anyone comfortable. It's me, The struggles, the lessons, the laughter, the embarrassing moments, the heartbreaks, the love, the shady comebacks, the nights I thought I wouldn't make it, and the mornings I woke up ready to fight again.
I named this book Resilience because that's exactly what my life has been about. No matter how many times I was knocked down by people I loved, by family pressure, by toxic love, by my own mistakes, I got back up. Bruised, maybe. Bitter, sometimes. But never broken.
So if you're holding this book, know this is, you're not reading some perfect fairytale. You're stepping into my world. One filled with chaos, comedy, culture, love, and pain that shaped me into the person I am today. And maybe, just maybe, you'll find pieces of yourself in these pages too.
This is my story. Raw. Real. Resilient.