02/09/2025
Growing Through The Darkness
Some say you’re strong,
that you’ll get through it.
But grief does not make us strong.
It takes us apart, piece by piece,
leaving us raw, fragile, unsteady.
Strength isn’t what carries us through.
It is time,
love,
memory,
and the small mercies of others.
We do not “overcome” grief;
we learn to live alongside it.
Strength may be seen from the outside,
but inside, it is often just survival,
breath by breath.
And yet, even in that survival,
something quiet happens.
Growth does not begin in light.
It begins buried,
silent, unseen,
pressed down by the weight of earth.
Grief feels the same.
We are planted in shadows we never chose,
and for a time,
we cannot tell
if we are ending or beginning.
But slowly, in the darkness,
something stirs.
A seed pushes through the soil,
fragile yet determined.
And one day,
a green shoot appears,
reaching gently toward the light,
each small leaf, each tender sprout a quiet promise of growth,
even in the midst of our grief.
~ 'Growing Through The Darkness' by Spirit of a Hippie
✍️ Mary Anne Byrne
~ Art by Mikenzi Mitchell
