Great to see a new piece from you, Gracy! I know it's been several months. I loved how you wrote about secrets, especially about the tenderness and sacredness they can hold. It really makes you think who you can trust with them, who will listen and give support freely, and who you have to be a bit more guarded around. For me, secrets have meant different things at certain times of my life. Sometimes, I see them as good and needing to be held by someone else, as I have realized I don't need to carry the burden alone. Other times, I see them as more neutral. And most often, I view secrets as something that personally does damage in the dark. When I hide important feelings or events, it only isolates me further and makes me put barriers up even more. It makes me re-evaluate that yes, I actually DO have people I can trust with personal things, but it still feels like a risk to be that vulnerable, even if I know they will not have a negative reaction.

Those last lines are beautifully haunting. It makes me think of the wonder and mystery around us, how we may not always be able to dissect it. How we may want all the unknowns to be known, to have the secrets of how we should live revealed to us, because it can be frustrating to feel like we're figuring it out all on our own... but we have to make our own paths and solutions. We have that power and autonomy. Not everything is meant to be revealed and it may lose some of its importance that way.

Hope you've been well!