Go Be a Light in the Dark

Dear Reader,

Some days you will feel knocked down, but get back up again. I was just reminded recently that though this world is full of pain, heartache, pitfalls, and torrential downpours, you can find an outpouring of love if you just push on a little farther down the path of life. I could live in my grief and build walls out of my pain to keep everyone out, but I'd only be alone in the middle of a fortress of heartache. I would rather take chances and make connections because for all of those that might be severed, there are so many more that might stand firm against the testing of time.

People think that only those that have not suffered think in this way, but Reader, I have suffered countless heartbreaks, survived many deaths, battled my way through many a horrible situation, and I still see so many reasons to be grateful. I will cling to the littlest moments of happiness to get me through the horrors in times of extreme difficulty. That is how I keep on going.

I have been asked many times how I get through everything because it is not a secret to those that know me that I have been through a lot. My solemn vow to myself has been, since eighth grade, to grow to love myself a little more every single day, to look for love anywhere it might be hiding, and to create whatever forms of art that this body will allow as often as I can for as long as I live. I kept that promise to myself and the more I looked for love in the little things, the more I looked for the good in the miniscule, the easier it became to see it all around me. I might have survived a lot of terrible, but I could not have gotten through it if I had thought that the bad was all there was or ever would be. The bad exists and I acknowledge that, but I don't let it rule my life. I deserve better than that and so do you.

I challenge you, Reader, to look for something beautiful today, no matter how small and to let it fill one of the cracks inside you, so that you are a little less empty. I dare you, Reader, to feel the love in my words when I say, you deserve happiness. Go be a light in the dark if you can't find one and watch people flock to you. If you are standing alone in the dark, know that in some way, I am there too, cheering you on.

Peace, light, and love be with you always,

Krista Becker

I Hope Love Will Answer Love

Dear Reader,

I keep wanting to be regular with my blog posts, but I often get caught up in the whirlwind that is my beautiful life and forget to update my blog.

I have been spending as much time with my beautiful family as possible. This includes those who'd be typically labeled as friends because my friends have such deep and profound connections with me that I consider them family. Additionally, I call the animals that live in my home my fur-babies for a reason. I would much rather call myself an interspecies mom than a pet owner. They own me as much as I own them and in truth it's more of a mutual love and respect than an ownership of any kind.

Lately I have had the pleasure of learning a great deal from my husband and my sister, my two best friends on the planet. Our conversations seem to be much more powerful and impacting than the on the surface talks that most people have in the day to day. I am blown away by the two of them and am beyond grateful for our respective connections.

Every work day I have the gift of being able to teach with some of the most thoughtful people I have had the pleasure of working alongside of. I could go on about the incredible people I have the honor of working with for hours if asked. I am constantly being checked on, helped, joked with, and supported. I am very grateful for that.

In my classroom I'm always learning from and working at imparting knowledge to some of the wackiest, most creative, and quirky bunch of kids I could hope to be in charge of. I love spending time with these kids, even if sometimes it means more gray hairs.

Speaking of gray hairs, the older I get, the more physical losses I have had to contend with. Every day, I work at finding my mom and others that have passed on in as many ways as I can. I look for her. I look for them. Not doing so would be far more heartbreaking than having days where making the connection is difficult or impossible because for the days when I am able to find my mom, my brother, my grandma Nina, or Jo, (those who I find most often), I am made much more whole. Yesterday I felt like my mom was whispering in my ear and I made a couple of calls that felt empowering because of her presence in my life. You may not have had the pleasure of knowing these people, Reader, but I would not be the person or the writer I am without them, so you can thank them for this blog.

I am imperfect and blissfully happy. I hope you are too. Thank your flaws for keeping you unique and challenging you to think in new, beautiful ways. If you're struggling to do so, know that somewhere in the universe, on a couch in my basement-living-room, I am rooting for you. I believe in you, Reader, and I hope that you believe in you too!

Send out a wave of love into the universe. Mom always said that energy responds to energy and I believe her. I hope deeply that love will respond to love as well and the more love we pour out, the better this place will be to live in.

<3 With Love,

Krista Becker