I am sure many of us here have tried different things or ways to help us heal. One of mine is reading and writing poetry. I feel free to write whatever I feel or want; there are no boundaries I need to place in order to feel safe.
After I read the poem below and other posts in this community, I realized I am so fortunate to have a small but mighty circle of friends and cousins who are supportive, always there for me, whom I feel safe and happy to be around. They make me laugh even when I shed tears.
Right now I am reading Amanda Gorman's book "Call Us What We Carry." Here is a rather long excerpt from her poem "In the Deep" that struck a chord in me:
"It is not what was done that will haunt us,
But what was withheld,
What was kept out & kept away.
The hand clenched tightly
With every black blow.
We cannot fathom all these phantoms.
But do not fear our ghosts.
Learn from them.
Slowly as the sea,
We found the stubborn devotion to say,
Where we can we shall hope.
We found it in a million delicacies
Of enormity---
An infant's full-chested chortle,
July glassing our skin,
Music blurring a summered street.
How when we're among friends
Our laughter can stomp
Up from nothing,
Through this hole punched in the roof
We can see a stitch of sky.
Our wounds, too, are our windows,
Through them we can watch the world."
Take good care and know there are no limits to where you might find comfort, safety, hope and peace.