I arrived to nurture your seed, those small, hard silences that tremble in the marrow of winter’s chill.

There is a vertical anxiety in this arrival. It is not the fear of the unknown, of those uncharted paths where one might lose a shoe or a soul. No, it is the heavy, humid weight of the “already been.” It is the exhaustion of carrying ghosts we forgot to say goodbye to. We are prisoners who have fallen in love with our bars, only to realize, with a sudden and terrifying clarity, that the keys have always been warm within our own palms. This is the only way a new year can truly begin: through the violent act of unlocking oneself.

Pardon me if I hesitate before the dusty chapters of your life. There is a certain sacredness in the old dust. But understand, and this is urgent, that one can be reborn without moving an inch from where they stand.

Truth is not a destination; it is an uncharted expanse, a wild internal territory where we are free to navigate or to get lost. It is there that we sow the possibilities that do not yet have names. You must embrace the weight of it all. In this life, everything is a responsibility, even the way we breathe. Do not give your power away to misfortune or the pale randomness of chance. One must learn to thrive even when the soul feels like a parched season. It is through the cycle, through the almost unbearable ripening of pain, that we finally break open.

No external force is steering this ship. There is no “destiny” waiting in the shadows to claim you. There is only the agency of the hand, the power to look at a thousand paths and say, “This one.” You are not your past; you are the sum of the choices you have not yet dared to make.

The future is a stranger; it knows nothing of your essence. Therefore, you must inhabit this day as if it were your entire fate. Because, in the shimmering reality of the now, it is.

Cherish this present, this thick and breathing moment. For all your tomorrows, no matter how vast, will have to walk across this very ground to find you.

©️Beatriz Esmer