make a good life
find friends
talk to them often
take the calls and step out of the restaurant
look back through the window and see your life.
make secrets
keep as many of them as you can
throw the rest over the bridge
most of it doesn’t matter
if it does
it will make a good story to tell over chardonnay in the future.
write emails to people you wish you’d met
dm your ex
back and tell them to disappear
dm your crush
fall in love
fall out of things
give up on nothing
give up on everything
start again.
forget that everyone is talking about you
because
no one is talking about you
and when they are
the universe is not
rewarding you either way
as my father says before he hangs up the phone to me,
‘be good’
as prince charles would say
‘whatever that means’.
go back to the bridge you threw your secrets off and see
if anything else can be let out -
the bones rattling in the cage
the paper weights
from times you took too many leaps
believed in too many sunsets
and movie endings
and clean hair virtues.
believe in nothing except for
making your own luck because
everything is energy
after all.
it goes round in circles.
watch it come back to you.
don’t buy too many things but
make sure the ones you get
make you feel good
try to figure out the difference
between the two.
think about the environment
every day -
let it keep you up at night but
make sure you get enough sleep.
don’t forget the stupid courage of
tangible sentimentality
half-drunk moments when the truth
is let it out.
write it down
hold it in your hands
send it to where it needs to go.
in your lunch break
in line for sushi
it will come to you:
there’s a dream out there
you’re trying to chase
does it exist?
whatever you think -
you’re probably right.
- Annabel Hawkins
*Thank you to Annabel Hawkins for allowing us to share this piece. You can see more of her writing here and her website here.*
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