I am writing to remind you that the way you love yourself—is also the way you allow others to love you as well. I am writing to remind you that loving yourself means more than simply loving the parts that you are most proud of.

It is peeling back the perceptions, misconceptions, and projections. It is loving past, present and future you; all the varied iterations beloved anew. It is gazing longingly within. It is lifting the veil—accepting and releasing all you’ve been: the monsters and angels both.

It is forgiveness for not always being the very best version of yourself, allowing even you to make mistakes. It is making peace with yourself so you can be at peace with other people. It is pure inner G/energy.

It is preemptively setting the stage each day—via your preferred method of attaining your most aware state—so that your focus is maintained on fun and play—simply because you deserve to feel good. Allowing each day to be dimpled with love and laughter as each could.

It is being capable of keeping commitments to yourself. Where self compassion and self actualization meet, love is an endless well. The more that you pour into yourself, the more you become a living self love spell. Such great love can only expand to reach everyone else.

I am writing to remember that the way I love myself is also the way I allow others to love me as well. I am writing to remember that loving myself means more than simply loving the parts that I am most proud of.

I am writing to remember.

I am most beautiful
When I am myself
In the most
Raw and vulnerable form
After I’ve danced
And my hair sticks
To my sweaty forehead
After I’ve laughed so hard
My smile can’t help but linger
Once I am done crying
Alone on my dirty floors
And I look into the mirror
Staring into my puffy eyes
I think,
I love her
She dances
She laughs
She feels feelings so loudly
And she loves even louder
She is most beautiful
In these moments

Dear Unsealers,

It’s the first day of March.

A new month has just begun. 31 new days to make them as we wish.

As the new month begins, it’s a season of transitition. From adding more daylight to the days, to the first traces of spring appearing.

With the new month beginning, it’s my custom to welcome it in verse.

A moment to welcome the month of March
31 new days have just arrived

A month that’s full of transitions
From the clocks switching ahead an hour
To winter’s last hurrah, as spring knocks on the door

To celebrate patron saints, Lá fhéile Pádraig & Dydd Gwyl Dewi
And painting the town green, in honor of Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month

As the UEFA Euros finalize their 24, MLS & the NWSL begin and MLB’s just a first pitch away
The Madness of 68 college basketball teams reigns

The first quarter of 2024, its ending coming near
There is nothing to fear and everything to embrace

Black is the new poetry my dear
Authored by our ancestors so I could have a voice that is heard beyond the volume of fear
The ink has always been dark so see with your ears
Black is the new love, now let your heart hear
The strength born from blood, sweat, and tears
That grew into a sunrise of a smile, my dear
My darling I keep your Melanin near
And your beauty adds depth to my mirror
The reflection tells me weapons are forming but they will stay in the rear
Because,
My black is the sunset to my depressed anxiety to steer
A blooming future in the right direction never to veer
Toward negativity, my dear
My black is the armor that never cracked, from the roots of scars and ignored facts
My black has always got my back so even if my eyes close you will still see this color, add a period to that!
My black is a promise painted like a rainbow you’ll never grey wash my faith, peace never cracks
p.s. my black has wings that sang…

My version of gratitude

Hello to the day, beautifully curated with sunlight, greenery and birds cheering us on.
Today I’ll take you on, with grace, and effort better than the last.
I pray to the heavens where my father resides, and he sends down a shower of blessings.
I greet those that I love far and near, some with hugs, others with yellow hearts and kind words.
Using my mind and body to get things done, although it’s not a joy, at least I have the ability.
Spending time on my hobbies, creativity flows effortlessly through my veins.
Carving out the time for each goal on my list because procrastination and I are on the verge of a breakup.
By the time the moon clocks in, and the stars provide company, I’ll eagerly find relaxation.
Aimless scrolling as I wind down, and brown noise until I’m asleep.
I could complain about how imperfect everyday is but I’ll take a rain check.
Right now, I’m just grateful to be here.

My screen is a scene of something obscene
It’s so serene I hear Myself scream I deemed it extreme
Im not to keen to dream it seems, I mean…..

Step side to side
Sway to our song
Your heart is the lyrics
My soul the instrumental
Hold my hand the way Jesus held the nails
Step side to side
Nerves waltz to love
No music is needed
When sacrifice becomes a verb
I’ll hold you like the space between us is trying to escape
Step side to side
A crowded ball room that only sees us
Watching movies with the sound off
Empty hands have the fullest hearts
And the cup of my rhythmic soul runneth over
p.s. don’t forget to kiss me under the waterfall chandeliers…

Two roads diverged ahead of me –
one known and one less traveled.
There’s been a lot of talk about
how one should take the latter.

They say to seek the new and strange
is the course that is the wiser,
but both seemed new and strange to me
because I’d never taken either.

I traveled for a bit down one
and found much there was gold,
but soon I wondered what glittering things
the other road might hold.

Changing course is not a thing
one can often do with ease.
I trudged across through underbrush
in the darkness of the trees.

I ran into another path-
who could say where this would go?
But one I went because of course
there’s but one way to know.

I’ve done a lot of traveling now
and there’s much that I have learned.
Each path was often weird to walk
and took many curious turns.

There are many books that I could fill
with what I don’t know yet.
But what I think is true is that
none knows which path is best.

So I say if you’re stuck between two roads
and told that you much choose,
to say p’shaw to others and
do what you want to do.

Is it okay
if I lay down?
I am feeling tired
I cannot explain
It’s what I feel

Making bodies
all day and night
Not gracefully
I embrace each moment
and yet it drains me

What does it look like
if I lay down?
Will I be baring
all my weakness
for everyone to see?

I will love in myself, now
that you’re not here,
all the little things
unspoken
that drew us near

Will you still love me
if I lay down?
I am feeling tired
I cannot explain
It’s what I feel

I thought my heart was breaking
Turned out it was growing pains
I wondered often if the aching
I felt so deep inside
Was a symptom of something else
Something much more far and wide

I thought my heart was breaking
But in all reality
The stretching sensation that sent me shaking
Was only a casualty
Of diving in deep straight to my soul
Healing, cleansing and making whole
A place that was once so hidden
Leaving a shell of me almost bed ridden

I thought my heart was breaking
Instead I found I was transcending
All the preconceived thoughts and teachings
Which all brings my soul to this beautiful ascending
New earth that is never ending
Blessings abound, always mending
That which was perceived as broken
Has now been Re birthed
expansions sending
Reverberations of healing through nations
Our one-ness remembered
Return to the heart bending
Home within your soul which always waits to warmly
Calmly
Gently
Unconditionally
Welcome you back
Into a soft embrace.

How many times have I
Done this wicked communion?
I present my body and blood
Not for nourishment
But to be devoured until I am no more
He who eats and drinks of this
Cup unworthily drinks damnation
Unto himself

Unholy communion
Attached to eternal bliss
Forgotten pledge to the cross
As we kiss

We wrestled all night until
The sun peeks its head
above the horizon
And venerates
our bodies with light

You slumber still
I wide awake
Wondering what will this be
Will this man be it for me?
My God my Holy one
The father and son
My Savior
I still feel the essence of your spirit
Inside of me
I still taste the flavor
Of your skin

I still hear the echoes
From the wall
As I call for Jesus
Every inch graced
By your touch
It pleases
All my senses
As I come to the consensus
With my mind body spirit
And soul
You are my God
MY will I submit to you
Let the actions of my body
Be pleasing to you
Feel the eruption of my worship
As my living water flows

Heaven only knows

Dreams of monogamy
Carnal insecure thoughts wondering
If he is lying to me

Because last night we were on earth
Underneath the stars and the moon
Gazing and anticipating
Quiet heavy whispers
Questioning if it’s too soon
I only known you for a moment
But you’re familiar

Like always meant to be mine
Always meant to share space and time
In a past life we were distant lovers
Faithful Ritualistic promises of
See you next lifetime
Engraved in our DNA
And unconscious mind

It’s like I spent every life
searching for you
Too stunned to speak
Loving you from a distance
You noticed me
But we shied away
Translated as indifference

Wondering what am I missing
When will time be kind?
At this very moment
all the timelines
Align

All in-sync
Body to body
Melanin on melanin
Skin in skin
Shedding the weight of
Our earthly bodies and its sin

Ascending into the cosmos
Intertwining until we are one
Only God knows
When we shall be undone
The universe sings praises
And exalts our union
We are gods
The universe is pleased
I cover you just as Nut
Does for Geb
When he admires
Her beauty
We both intertwined
In this web
Of ethereal bliss

We fly past constellations,
planets and Galaxies
And make love
in the nebula clouds
Our sweat scattered across
The universe and heavens

As we take our rest
No need for words
While we lie naked
And undressed
Our chocolate bodies
Dancing in the shadows
Of my head
Heart distressed
At the potential mess
This could be
You’re asleep
And Wide awake I lay
In this bed
As the sun rises
From its slumber
the angels of light
Dance on the walls
of this room
I find peace and rest
in the quiet of
Heaven’s morning
And wait for the
Cleansing
Found in
Heaven’s afternoon

My heart says to love you

My mind says to leave you behind

My heart says you need me

My mind says I’m being too kind

My heart says forgive you

My mind says it’s for the last time

My heart says I’ll miss you

My mind says stop being so blind

My heart says that you’ll change

My mind says it’s just too late

My heart says there’s hope still

My mind says you’ve sealed your own fate

My heart says it’s broken

My mind says to cry and move on

My heart says it’s ready

My mind says the heart’s never wrong

When you think Happiness — What do you see ?

For me — Happiness is a lot of different things

Like finding banana bread in my car from last night

& realizing — hey cool — now I have a midday snack 😋

Happiness is noticing I put my keys on the hook

& the following day not having to run around like a chicken without a head — while I desperately look

Happiness is the days — I wake up to a clean room

& the days my son gets ready — without step by step instruction — on what he needs to do

Happiness is his comical personality —
a free in house comedian — just for mommy

He still cost me a fortune — but that’s ok
Mommy thinks he’s worth it

Happiness is arriving to my destination on time

Or watching the kids playing soccer outside

Happiness is a mani pedi night
& tik tok time with my beautiful niece

Happiness is watching lifetime movies
with my mom — (even tho they traumatize me)

— Or her guilt-fully admitting to me
she gave a stranger — a good chunk of money

Happiness looks different for everybody

Some ppl think happiness is only in the future
While others may only see it in the past

There’s been times — I’ve been both those people
but I no longer wanna be like that

I feel the sooner we learn to release the idea of happiness being anywhere but now

The sooner we unlock the chains — that have held us hostage

& blinded us from the blessings — we currently
have right now

So I look around at my now — and I think about all the things I currently have — that make me happy

& suddenly the things I don’t yet have — start to slip my mind

Not because I don’t want them anymore
but because obsessing over it — is unhealthy

So just incase I start to forget my blessings
I jot them down to revisit them

& I remind myself that happiness is not a perfect situation or timeframe

Happiness is a way of liven

So I try to be happy —
minute by minute — hour by hour — day by day
if I have to

Until happy moments
turn into happy days again

Ik it’s easier said than done
— I also struggle with it

Some situations make it hard to live happy each moment

— like a sudden loss or separation
Or being in an abusive relationship

Identity theft — sudden illnesses — You name it

But I spent a lot of years of life carrying the weight of burdens that weren’t mine to carry

Not because these things didn’t happen to me
— Because they did

But because I tried to control things that were out of my control — instead of letting go

Letting go is hard — I know

But it’s freeing 🦅

So I put my worries up on a shelf — let them worry about themselves

— & redirect my focus to something else

Like listening to my brother telling me — he successfully completed a mission

Wether I’d be — home remodeling
or that he recently replaced a transmission

I don’t understand what he says to me half the time but I’m happy to listen

Happiness is the sun setting in in front my eyes
or in my cars — rear view mirror

Happiness is — long curly hair & colored eyes
on that one stranger — who helped me heal

Happiness is my sitter & I playing rumikub
Or my sons sister finally telling me — I love you too

Happiness is watching a father interact w his son
& heal the inner child in him — that never had one

Happiness is the smile I see on my granny — while giving her a gel mani

Even more so — watching her regain her strength after amputation — & learning how to walk again w her prosthetic

Happiness is — my friends famous enchiladas
Her venting to me — all pissed off
Or us having a self care day — with an amazing massage

Happiness is a good talk with a stranger
Or a God answered prayer

At times — happiness is receiving peace
in exchange for the ones — unanswered

Happiness is changing the situation when it no longer makes you happy

Or changing your perspective on it
— if that’s not an option

Happiness is listening to
(Reckless love)

Or finding a safe place to express myself & my feelings like — theunsealed.com

Happiness sometimes means to hold on

While other times happinesss means to let go

Happiness may look different for everyone else tho

This is just some of my happiness
summarized into a short little poem 💙

Happiness

Happiness is like seeing the sun smile, after months of waking to an over casted cloud
covering the sky

Happiness is feeling content, being whole on your own , comfortable in your skin

Happiness
Happiness is seeing your child laugh. To create happiness for the very little person who your fighting for everyday.

Happiness is taking that first deep breath on a sunny morning.
Ready for that first sip of a salted Carmel espresso topped with vanilla foam . That flavor will sky rocket right to your heart oozing in hot liquid love.

Happiness

Happiness is feeling joy .
Happiness is smiling for no reason.

It’s loving all of the universe for shifting your perspective for the better and seeing what it
was all for the purpose of.

like feeling the gears shift in your mind , frequency’s switch between dimensions , hearing different tones and language only your sub conscious mind comprehends.

so many beautiful faces and colors in the glitch …It’s beauty none the less.

Like being able to hear the voices of the wind and see all the signs , communications in code with the most high.

Happiness is walking with a purpose , smelling good with some walk in your stride.
Happiness is being able to smile from the soul after seeing the cutest Hallmark moment
take place as you walk down on the side walk.

Happiness
Happiness is Being happy for each others lives as we press on.

It’s the simple things …

It’s like that feeling When you just stare in each other’s eyes until you envision a new life
being in love, getting stuck in between the glare that gets you lost in each others mind.

Happiness

Is, being satisfied with where you are. Loving yourself unconditionally even in the midst of indecision.

Happinese is gratefulness , for Being granted with Taking the time to find myself ; a life built off miracles , blessings , and pure wisdom in the center of chaos.

Wishing for happiness

Dreaming of happiness

Feeling happiness

I am happiness

I think I’m in happy…
Introvert at heart I was exhausted but enjoying myself like a good day at the gym
I had been participating in some verbal jogging when the jargon interrupted the depth of my thoughts
I wanted to go deeper, but the question brought me back to the surface
You know, that over used, over played, over copied, get out of jail free question
So, how did you feel, question mark
A mental sigh fogs my mind, as I wait for the dust to settle, I try to paint what can’t be replicated in any art
My response a cliche of my own just to joust back
In case we’re keeping score
I’m deadly competitive to a fault, laughing to myself touché
Oh, my reply, I almost forgot
The cliche runs from my mouth: the words to describe it are lost but if found it would be something like watching the American Day Dream on the big screen except you’re the main character
When your mood matches the brightness within the sunrise of your eyes and you’re by no means even a little bit of an early bird
You hear the sound of vinyl recorded melodies on repeat as you brush your teeth
The dust slowly undresses as I then get dressed
Looking for the perfect outfit is comparable to searching for these words
And don’t even get me started on shoes
The right pair will have everyone on there heels and can capture the eyes to the soul
That day my soul sang solo after the shower rained down cleansing compliments
Chanting for an encore
The volume of the claps is turned down
The dust has finally kissed the ground
And for the reveal my reflection sees a familiar memory
As my mouth curves like a rose into a shape it hasn’t felt in awhile
I’ve been chasing this flowery feeling like the butterfly tasting the flight of bliss
I grab as fast as I can, gripping the steering wheel headed to the destination
Shouting I’m never letting go
As my opposite palm holds her hand
I want to stop to picture frame this memory
I have to stop and picture frame this memory
We stop at the red light and she asks: can I borrow a forehead kiss
I respond: as long as you come back again
p.s. this is happiness, it was something like that…

Say yes immediately!

Do not check your schedule,
do not consider
the consequences
until it’s too late.

Lose sleep
constructing
escape plans.

Remember:
anxiety is a loan shark
and it will find you!

Write the text and delete it
a few hundred times.

Google ‘how to safely
poison yourself’

Decide against it

Cancel last minute

and repeat.

Get up
the day has been
asking about you.

Shake off the dust
of your wallowing.

Unhibernate your
state of belonging.

I have seen skeletons
rediscover their heartbeats
so I have no doubt that you can, too.

Realign your bones.
Wash off the sins that your
sadness left behind.

Become fierce again
because the sky
Is toothless mouth
without you.

The sun lies awake
worried that he will never
get the chance
to cast your shadow again.

The wind has a scripture of things
it wants to whisper to you.

Turn your door mats around
so the world welcomes you.

Introduce yourself
like this world
owes you something.

It has left you breathless
for far too long.
You earned its oxygen.
Claim it!

This world is yours
for the taking
if you want it.

So get up!
The world
has been asking about you

it would be rude for you
not to answer.

Are you awake?
Are you happy?

Because your eyes are welled up and your mouth is sealed with fear.

Do you dream?
With your eyes open?

Because the loneliness in your heart is quite thick in the air.

Take courage, and stand up tall.
You deserve to be heard and felt.
Remember, that in this game, you’re in charge of the cards once dealt.

One step closer to who you desire to be, as the tears drip down your face.
Keep moving, steadily from the past but gracefully at your own pace.

Reflect and mediate on the journey that you’ve now come to know.
Set boundaries, burn bridges – not everyones here to watch you grow.

A smirk, and then a smile, is that teeth I’m starting to see?
Is there enjoyment in the destination that you are gradually envisioning for me?

Are you awake?
Are you happy?

No, the ride won’t always be fun.
Yes, self love and peace of mind will be signs that your job is done.

Reconstruction

Peel off my layers,
Unravel my fears,
Decode my lies,
Dispose of my tears,
Exclude my insecurities,
Arrange my “self”,
Comfort my wounds,
Aide me with health,
Please my soul with creations,
Subtract the debt,
Remind me that what’s good is currently left,
Make me good as new,
Forgive my past,
Have faith in my future,
Believe I will last,
Consider my growth,
Encourage the process,
Be my stool to newer heights,
Give me space when I’m stressed,
After all you’ve done and all you do,
I hope my reconstruction is perfect for you.

The feelings I have inside are not easy ones to let out BUT THIS IS ME!

If you asked ME what is the FIRST THING people notice when I MYSELF enter a room it would and IS my LIMB and FISTED hand because of my cerebral palsy a physical disability

Often NOT ALWAYS the FIRST THING JAKE SEES is being treated DIFFERENTLY, but THIS IS ME I do not know any differently!!!

It’s easy for me to say I should be treated the SAME as others whose differences you can NOT SEE

Unfortunately oftenbNOT ALWAYS the WORLD does NOT teach enough about SOCIETY and how WE are ALL BORN DIFFERENTLY!!!

mine is just one you SEE!

I hope that WE can keep the MAIN thing the MAIN thing and that is we ALL have a heart

So I ask ALL to please let that be the MOST IMPORTANT thing WE SEE

With Utmost LOVE & GRATITUDE