We hold on to those who cannot love us for so many reasons. Sometimes, we hold on because we convince ourselves that the circumstance will change — that if we love harder, if we give more, if we stay, if we endure, the situation will evolve. The value of our love will finally be recognized, it will finally be chosen. Sometimes, we hold on because we feel like we have to. We feel like we have to be the ones to fix, the ones to mend, the ones to prove that human beings don’t give up on a person they see something beautiful within. And sometimes, sometimes we hold on because we think that we will never find the kind of person who proves to us that love is not something that is meant to hurt. Sometimes, we hold on because we lose our belief in the fact that love has the potential to be soft, that there is more to life than what we are settling for. Sometimes, we hold on because we haven’t healed. Because we would rather sleep beside someone who makes us feel lonely than be alone. Sometimes, we hold on because it is easier to fill our voids with another human being, even when they cannot value us, because we are still learning how to value ourselves. We hold on to those who cannot love us for so many reasons, in so many ways. And it is okay. Letting go is one of the hardest things you will have to do. But at the end of the day, keeping someone in your life who makes you question yourself, who makes you feel like you are too much, who asks for you to quiet your soul — that is the greatest injustice you will ever impart on your heart. That is doing yourself a deep disservice, because you deserve to be surrounded by people who make you feel seen. You deserve to be surrounded by people who nourish you and challenge you and dizzy you in the best way possible. It is important to learn how to stop romanticizing the things in your life that hurt. It is important to cut those ties, even when it is hard, even when you do not want to face the loss, because it is within that hardship that you will learn how to choose your own heart. That you will learn how to stand up for it. And it deserves to be defended. It deserves to be treasured. 🤍 Words: @rainbowsalt

There is still time.   There is still time to tell that special person that you love them. That at some point over the last few months, they made your days a little brighter, they helped heal the hurt others left behind — they sank into your heart and made a home there. You can still tell them that in the midst of impossible circumstances, they became your favorite thing.   There is still time to change your ideas about the future. It is okay if you’re not where you thought you’d be today — you have many tomorrows ahead of you. Life is not linear, and as you grow you will sometimes outgrow what you once wanted. You are allowed to course correct, you are allowed to take your path in a different direction. This is your journey, and yours alone.   There is still time to let go of the past. It starts by accepting that you can’t turn back the clock, you can’t erase experiences from your memory — but you can actively choose to live in the present moment, to show up for yourself, to find forgiveness. Release the lost loves and conditioned thought patterns that have constrained you all these years. You deserve to live free.   There is still time to start over. No matter what your age, no matter what your beliefs, no matter how many days are already behind you — you can begin again new, if you want to. You can map out new courses and you can discover new territories. You can learn new ways of thinking and you can think about new ways to learn more about who you truly are at heart.   There is still time to fully embrace who you are and step into the life you deserve. To love better, to hug harder. To find peace in forgiveness and solace in clarity. To let go of fear and pursue what makes you feel the most alive. There is still time to believe you are worthy of everything you so fiercely desire. You were worthy yesterday, you are worthy today — you will still be worthy tomorrow. Words: @nakedwriting Video: @chloelecareux

Trust me when I say — the greatest thing you will ever do for yourself is to simply listen to what you actually want from life. Drown out the guidelines, the advice, the 'shoulds.' Drown out all of the opinions, all of the ways in which others are telling you how to live, and love, and exist in this world. It won’t be easy, it never is; because this is what they don’t tell you — finding your own version of happiness it isn’t this comfortable, miraculous thing. It can get confusing, it will be hard. It’s difficult to be the person who does things differently, who chooses to walk away from from a life, or a love, or a hope that they once wanted. It is never easy to be the person who changes. But it's the greatest gift you will ever give yourself. It will push you towards figuring out what your own personal version of happiness looks like; and when you grow on your own terms, when you figure out what actually matters to you, what actually ignites your heart, what actually drives you to love yourself more — you live on your own terms. You become the person you have always wanted to be, rather than the person you were always told to be, and that is beautiful. Because when it comes down to it — life is about finding a happiness that works for you. So choose that happiness. Choose the kind of love that feels right, the kind of love that makes you understand why it didn’t work out with anyone else. Choose the kind of life that makes you so damn happy you kept fighting for the things you wanted, for the way in which your heart asked you to believe in more. Choose yourself, unapologetically and without guilt — the way you choose others. Show up for yourself. Give yourself permission to hope, to care, to trust in the things you deeply crave from life. Choose letting go. Choose forgiveness, choose to turn your losses into lessons. Choose to move forward, into the kind of story that fulfills you, into the kind of person that holds your heart just as carefully as you hold theirs, into the kind of happiness that exists because you chose to fight for it, and never stop fighting for it. Never stop. Words : @rainbowsalt Photos: @j_ambrojo x @paulatruiz

Listen — if someone truly wants you around then they will do what it takes to keep you there. You can’t force someone to care about you. You can’t force someone to stay loyal to you. You can’t force someone to love you. Don’t stay because you think there isn’t more love out there. Don’t stay because you think you can’t find better. Don’t lie to yourself so they can seem like a better person. Don’t walk in a hurricane just to be by their side when you know they wouldn’t do the same for you. You have to understand that some people that enter your life aren’t meant to stay forever. Even when you feel with your entire being that this is it for you, they might not be. But I promise - someday you will meet someone and it will make perfect sense why your past happened. You will never feel the slightest bit less about yourself, because they will value all that you are. You probably feel trapped or as if this is far out of reach for you, but trust me when I say, this person is out there. This person is waiting for you. You are the person of someone’s dreams. Someone is going to show you the purest love. You have imperfections that someone is going to cherish. You have a laugh that someone is going to smile just thinking about it. You have dreams and goals that someone will support. You have a kindness in you that someone will admire. There is someone out there that will admire every nook and cranny of your mind. This person exists in this world, so remember this when you’re lying in bed at night with someone who makes you feel as though you’re alone. I pray you find the love that makes you fall in love with yourself and I pray that you let go of the person that makes you feel anything less than amazing. Words: Victoria Joslin Video: @habip.ky

Just in case no one has told you this lately, I'm really proud of you. 🦋 If if you know someone who might need to hear these words, tag them in the comments. 🤍 Words: @momentaryhappiness

A collection of different moods. Which one hits home for you tonight? 💭 Words: @thomaslelu

Your new life is going to cost you your old one. It’s going to cost you your comfort zone and your sense of direction. It’s going to cost you relationships and friends. It’s going to cost you being liked and understood. It doesn’t matter. The people who are meant for you are going to meet you on the other side. You’re going to build a new comfort zone around the things that actually move you forward. Instead of being liked, you’re going to be loved. Instead of being understood, you’re going to be seen. All you’re going to lose is what was built for a person you no longer are. Remaining attached to your old life is the first and final act of self-sabotage, and releasing it is what we must prepare for to truly be willing to see real change. Words: @briannawiest Video: @aliyanera

Some souls instantly click. Whether you're lovers, best friends, soulmates, or something so special that words can't quite explain it. You accept this person for everything they are, and they would never let you be anything other than your beautiful, imperfect self. These are the souls that you encounter and just know in the very first moment that you were supposed to cross paths. Their presence makes you feel safe and calm, like you are home whenever you're with them. They are without a doubt the most special person you've had the privilege to love no distance, time, or person could come between the bond you share. Their kindness, softness, sincerity, and unconditional love makes you feel like a better person, because life is simply better with them in it. Whatever form they may come in, these souls are your happy place, your comfort, your sunshine, your everything, and you genuinely could not imagine life without them in it. Words: @momentaryhappiness Photo: @hannaschonberg

Love a soft person. The kind of person who kisses your soul instead of your heart because they know that your soul is where you keep your universe and your heart is just one star. The sort of person who is told they are over sensitive because they have a more fragile heart. Love a soft person. A human being who always has a kind smile for everyone, even when they do not get a smile back in return. Someone whose heart breaks over the condition of this world. Someone who always has a gentle word for those who have received the worst news they could in that moment. Love a soft person. The ones who are positive, even in the worst of circumstances. Someone whose strength is not in bravado, but in their quiet. Someone who is strong for others because that is what is needed in that moment. Someone who is the moon that soothes instead of the sun that burns. Someone who sees the very best in people even when you think they aren’t worth it. The kind of person who always wants to do the best for those they love. Love a soft person. The kind who looks at someone who is struggling, whether it is to open a door, or have lost their keys and will do everything they can to help out. Someone who tries, not because it is what they have to do, but because they want to do the best by you. A human being that is always willing to communicate and talk things through. Protect a soft person. These kind of people are becoming endangered with words like ‘toughen up’ and ‘you’re so naïve’ and ‘they’re going to take advantage of you’. Someone who you can see is trying despite being broken themselves. Someone who is an easy target for ridicule because their heart is softer than most others around. Someone who is quick to apologise and fix things regardless of blame or fault. Be a soft person. Be a cushion in a world full of rocks and hard places. Be a gentle soul where everyone else is jaded. Be that person. Because people like that are rarer and more precious than the rarest of jewels in this world. Words: @nikita_gill Video: @yazclub

An exhaustive list of things we often overlook, that actually provide subtle bursts of joy in our lives — if we notice them. 🤍 Words by @icietnu

I know right now you are in this polarizing place where you believe in the value of love, and you see all of its potential beauty, but because of your experiences in this world, because your heart has been weathered, you're also acutely aware of the what ifs — What if you fall for someone and they leave? What if you place your heart into their hands and they cannot hold it? What if they do not love you back? But what if they do? What if you take the chance, what if you risk your heart, if you crash it into someone who genuinely inspires you, and they choose you? What if they love you the way you always desired to be loved? What if they see you clearly, and hug your broken pieces back together, and fill your life with the sunniest kind of happiness? What if they grow you, and encourage you, and teach you that love was always meant to be soft? That it was always meant to feel the way it feels when you are with them? What if they make you understand why it never worked out with anyone else? What if they stay? And what if they do leave? What if the pain arrives? What if there does come a time where they cannot be what you need? What if you outgrow one another, what if you evolve into two people who cannot beat the odds? What if love changes — but what if there is still gratitude there? Gratitude for the way in which they stretched your heart into what it ended up becoming, gratitude for how they helped you to find clarity in what you strive to find in the next person life gifts you? Does that make it any less important, any less rich? Does that make it any less worthy of being felt, of having the kind of depth and connection that might not last forever, but that breeds the kind of lessons and knowledge and hope that will? There will always be the potential for pain when it comes to matters of the heart. This is a fact of life. But we cannot close ourselves off to potential pain without also closing ourselves off to potential awe, potential joy. The cost of staying fortified and hidden away is too high, it bankrupts you. You have to stay open, you have to take the risk. It's the only way the light gets in. 🤍 Words: @rainbowsalt Photo: @dinadenoire

A List Of Forgotten Love Languages: "Text me when you get home." Burned CDs. Forgiveness. "Jinx!" Handwritten letters sent by mail. Lazy Sunday mornings. Telling the full, messy truth. Memorizing your partner's coffee order and the notes of their laugh. Running Saturday afternoon errands with your best friend. Keeping your word. Keeping a promise. Keeping your heart open. "Did you take your meds?" Hugs from behind. Surprise vis-its. Patience. Dancing on the front porch. "God, I'm so glad you're here." Surprising your mom with a clean kitchen. Saving every birthday card from the people you love. Saving your shy friend a seat at the party. Saving room for mistakes. Reading your dad's book recommendations. Telling secrets at 2 AM. Watching your roommate's favorite show with them because they love it so much. Talking about loved ones who have passed on. Night drives with the windows rolled down and music from high school turned up. "I believe in you." Giving the benefit of the doubt. Giving your full attention. Giving your full heart. Words: @mollyburford Photo: @hi_dongwon