Joy In One Palm

I woke to a day holding both light and shadow.
Some call it the cycle of life;
others feel it as joy in one palm, grief in the other.
A candle lit for a birthday—
a beautiful young soul stepping into a milestone—
and, in the same breath, a farewell
to a childhood peer now carried by memory.
Two moments balanced on the same scale,
measuring the weight of being alive.
Life is kind.
Life is beautiful.
Life is merciful.
It does not judge, nor does it discriminate,
and sometimes—perhaps in service of something greater—
it is heartbreakingly brief.
We are given only a handful of days
on this island called Earth.
So why not honor them?
Why not let them shimmer?
Why not live effervescently,
as if each breath matters—because it does.
Celebrate life—
its milestones and missteps,
its adventures and aching headaches,
its quiet blessings disguised as noise.
Remain in grace.
Choose presence over anger.

Choose joy over misery, the conquest of the night

Choose to dance
And yet, here we are—
lost in a fog of I don’t know what!