Unraveled

 I have stood where you are standing. You are many things but you are never alone. I too, have been naked in front of the crowd. The harsh words and judgments have been hurled in my direction. The abrasive insults have cut me to my core and left my skin red, angry, and raw. I have felt my skin flushing from the shame. Felt the burn of the labels I have been branded with. I have shivered in my fear. Left cold and hypothermic. I have been outside the window looking in. My dirty hands traced heart shapes on the glass leaving smudged proof that I was there. My suit of armor has fallen away like filthy rags, unraveling string by string. I am a two thousand year old mummy with all of my wrappings torn off until I am nothing but dirt and dust and bone. I have scratched and clawed across this ice cold marble floor for so long that it is nothing but weathered stone beneath my knees. I have spilled my thoughts and emotions like a dank, stale, red wine onto my tattered white satin gown.We all at some point become more than ourselves.We are all vulnerable. We all are unraveled at certain points in our lives. We loose our ability to hold onto the life raft. We fall from grace. We all have dropped our confidence and our courage at some point. We have all stood neck deep in the ice cold waters of truth. We have all been judged and found ourselves lacking for some reason or another. We are battle weary knights riding in on exhausted horses. Our armor has rusted and we have dropped our swords. We have all broken our shields. I don't pretend to know everything, but if we should meet on on this frigid stone floor I will sit with you for awhile. I will speak kind words for I am exposed to the elements as well. Today we might not have the strength to stand. Today we might feel defeated, but tomorrow has yet to be written. We can sit and tell stories. We can tell each other of the great adventures that we will have. We can play cowboys and indians and hide and seek. We can laugh at the melancholy of it all and cry at the happiness. We can help each other up from the floor. It is easier to stand up with someone else pulling you. So when you have lost your compass, when you have been stripped bare of all you hold dear, look around you. There are many of us who have been unraveled.We have been there and know the floor well. We have felt every crack and crevice. We have scars on our knees from kneeling and crawling on it for years. We can lend advice and understanding.We can offer a shoulder to cry on. Most of all we live as proof that there is always another tomorrow. There is always hope. We are all unraveled.