Sarah Smith’s Path to Healing

Dear Silence,

I know now that you aren’t really silent. I know that you are the whisper within me, trying to guide me without forcing me, trying to heal me without pressuring me, trying to love me without losing me.

I understand now that you are me. You are the part of me that I couldn’t hear because I was too busy listening to everything else. I forgot to listen to me.

I feel you talking now. I feel you asking me to rest or take a breath. I feel you taking care of me with a care that I have never felt before.

I hear you whisper to me words of encouragement and a sense of direction. I hear you talk to me through my body.

I see you giving me encouragement through the world I live in and confirmation through the goals I achieve. I see you cheering me on when I don’t know how to myself, and I see you being with me every step of the way.

I speak you every time I feel my words being true, and I speak for you every time I set a boundary for myself.

You were never silence; you were me trying to come through. But how could you when I chose to ignore you?

I don’t blame anyone. It was how it had to be. It’s just sad to know that you had to hide for so long, before I could see:

You were never silence. You were silenced.