Today I attempt to walk a new path in life, a path that sparkles from the sun above to guide my every move. Step by step, I embrace the light and escape the dark shadow behind me. Slowly, I start to run as I crave harder to escape my unburdening. With the weight of sorrow on my back, I let it go and reach in front for the chamber in my heart. Now sprinting forward, I desperately capture each ray of light and deposit it in my chamber, knowing now is not the time to be frugal. Long grasses wave my way, and trees smile at me as I finally stop to notice the purple flowers in front of me. Here, I rest in beauty and look up to the sky to allow the light of the sun to fall into my eyes so that those who care to pause and look inside them find the iridescence I carefully carry. I stop to catch my breath so that those who care to listen can hear the sincerity of my words previously so suppressed. My synapses with hope, I stand still here imagining a new world without the masks of insincerity, judgment, and politics. Peeling one part of my own mask at a time, I stand directly under the light to expose the weaknesses, doubts, fears, insecurities, and shame hiding in me for so long. Spared, I suddenly find myself standing tall and with pride as I look towards my emotional scars. I start to smile as I so gently rub my hands against those marks realizing that my emotional scars are my story, and my story is what makes me – a girl who stands in the same fire that burns her knowing that one day, the sun will softly kiss those burns off to expose her honest light from within. Cradled by the same world that she felt once resented her, the pain felt different this time; it felt worth it. As the sun starts to set, the sky turns into a tapestry of color. From yellow to orange to red to blue to purple, I spin around to watch my entire world become curated with color. Guided by nature’s rhythm, I start to dance through the beauty behind me and the beauty before me. One step at a time, I gracefully find my stride on the newly crafted horizon of my world. May you too one day find a reason to dance. Nikita Mittal is a medical student. Source
