On the days when your body feels like a broken hour glass
and all you want is to tip it over and let the remaining sand spill out,
think of how many good minutes you still have left.

Heartbreak is like rain: eventually it dries up and disappears through the cracks
of whatever pieces your heart still contains,
replenishing it for next year.

Never trust a man who howls at you like a wolf
without treating you like the moon.

The only fingerprints someone should dust on your body
should be the fingerprints you want.
But your body is never a crime scene. And you are never the criminal.

Any scars on your skin are not periods. They are not the end of your life story,
but instead are hyphens, joining pain with the good to come.

The sound of your own pulse may alternately
crescendo and decrescendo, and some days you may want the music to end,
but keep on listening. It’s the most beautiful symphony you’ll ever hear performed live.

—Meggie Royer, Metaphors My Mother Never Taught Me