I love this excerpt from The Velveteen Rabbit, and I love Brené Brown's preface to it in her book Daring Greatly:
"a beautiful reminder of how much easier it is to become real when we know we're loved"
It's a hard thing to realize that you need other people... I don't think I'm alone in thinking that. I moved across the country - twice - with that steadfast belief. I think, as a society, we take a lot of pride in independence and "being strong", and we don't allow for a lot of room to rely on other people. Not in an unhealthy way, of course, but I just don't think we give ourselves enough opportunity to really be there for one another. Living in a new city, with wonderful friends but numerically much fewer than I'm used to, I've gotten a good taste in loneliness. In that, I haven't felt as connected with myself as I remember in the past - giving me this horrible feeling of inauthenticity. (Which is funny, because isn't that why people run away in the first place?) After reading this excerpt, I'm reminded that it really does take human love - not Instagram likes or Facebook posts - to shape us into what we're all looking for: something Real.
I don't have anything ground-breaking to say, I just wanted to share that excerpt in hopes that it speaks to someone else the way it did for me. I'm really lucky to have so many people in so many places that do love me, and who shape me into the version of myself that I want to be. And until my joints are creaky and my eyes drop out, I'll keep on embracing the good, the bad, and the lonely, only now with a little less hardheadedness, a bit more connection, and, hopefully, a lot more Real.
