There has been talk about the benefits of a weighted blanket. It is supposed to comfort whoever drapes it around their shoulders. It is supposed provide a warm embrace as people tighten it close around their bodies.

Stress is like that. It is always their, on the verge of choking you. Instead of a warm hug, stress reaches out with a cold wrap of chaos that is constantly trying to weigh you down. Stress is a blanket. It takes everything you think of and covers it in doubt and turns your light into shadows that creep all around you.

Stress is a weighted blanket that brings no relief. It is two halves of a balanced day.

A weighted blanket allows you to sprawl on the sand.

The sun gently delivering a nice new tan.

People playing around you and smiles all around.

Waves in the distance provide the only sound.

Stress invites you for a closer look, beneath the waves hiding its hooks.

You go for a swim just to test the water, before the waves pull you under and breathing gets harder.

You try to get out but you struggle to float.

You look around but sometimes there's no boat.

#stress #beachday #beach #water #drowning #challenge #weightedblanket #sun #mood

Sadness is everywhere. It compliments the joy. It surprises the wonder in the world. It calls out to let you know that this is real. It grounds us all to this world, so that we don't get lost flying in the clouds we imagine all around us. Sadness is necessary.

Like salt enhances the sweet in baking, sadness makes our happiness that much more important. Our happiness is like a ship wandering the sea on an adventures everyday. Sadness is the anchor that keeps you from being swept away in the night.

It makes us realize what's important. So embrace sadness like a friend guiding you on your way. Embrace the emotional. Hold on to it tightly so you can be free to explore what really makes you happy.

Know that sadness will be there, but only to enhance all the joy. The joy of friendships. The wonder of exploring a new place. The excitement of experiencing a new adcenture. The warmth of a loving embrace. The comfort of family.

All sadness to let you know that these things are not just a dream, they are a reality. Greet sadness like a friend and allow yourself to be happy. Be happy because while we may grounded in sadness, you deserve to be happy.

#freewrite #streamofthought #prose #challenge #sadness #happiness #joy # writing

My sister was running down the court at her third game of the season. She was a star player on her grade school team. I was in the stands by myself watching, and wondering when my parents would arrive. They had spent tonight, like every night this week, with my uncle in the hospital. I had asked to visit, but was told no. My sister scored a basket at the buzzer and was walking to me as my father walked up to me. I didn't see my mom until the next morning, with tears in her eyes. No more visits.

When I was younger and alone, I lost my voice. Not even the shadows would listen to me as I struggled to even understand what I needed.

My voice failed me and I was confused.

I didn't know how to even give myself clues.

Then one day I started writing things down.

I found my escape and I was finally found.

When I was a little bit older, I made my own voice. When I write people listen, and while I still find myself locked inside my head, I understand when I write I'm not dead.

#emotional #depression #outlook #writing #prose #freewrite #rhyme #challenge

I kept running. I didn’t know what else to do. I was so scared I wouldn’t get away.

My head was aching. I was starting to black out with bright specs of light floating around me. My chest was on fire as my heart pounded out and my lungs struggled to keep up with my breathing.

I almost made it to freedom. I had to make it soon. My legs were starting to give out. I worked too hard for this moment to fail at the finish line. One more stretch of road.

I would be the first one in my family to win this race and escape from the town that seemed to be trapped in its own time.

Two more steps. One more push. And I made it across the stage with my diploma and train ticket to university so far away that the town feels like a distant dream.

#graduationday #moving #growingup

In another world, I'd be a superhero. I would love to help people. Save lives. Matter to others. I could be invincible and calm. I'd be strong in both muscle and virtue. Someone that people could look up to.

In another world, I'd have a secret identity much like the one I have now. Only it wouldn't be to protect myself from hate and bigotry. It'd be to protect others, especially the ones I love. I'd probably still be in a closet, but only to change into my alter-ego of an everyday person. An everyday person with a normal family.

In another world, I'd have battles to fight, but they would be cartoonish with dramatic villians that are defeated in a single episode. The battles would be physical in actual locations, instead of being stuck inside of my head. And my allies would be plentiful and just as strong as me. I'd have my wife or husband, best friends, and anyone else who wants to stand with us. We'd fight the forces of evil and laugh like we are free.

In another world maybe we could be who we really are. We'd no longer have to worry about hiding in the shadows and showing too much public sappiness.

In another world, maybe I'd like to discover happiness.

#challenge #superhero #AlternateReality #prose #freestyle #emotion #happiness #sadness #LGBT

I desire world peace. I desire and end to hunger. I desire a cleaner environment. These are the common answers that come to mind when we know strangers are judging us. They may be true... to an extent.

We all have other desires we keep hidden away. I desire to one day wake up happy, with a clear direction in life. I desire to wake up and not feel like I'm trying to find the right path to take after losing my map and trail guides.

I also desire things like success and happiness for my friends and family. Wouldn't it be nice if we were all experiencing happinesss? That's a good desire to have. Not as much guilt over wishing for the happiness of others rather than just yourself.

I still get guilty over turning in christmas wish lists to Santa when I was a kid. My desires then were more basic, but I knew other people, other kids, had more important needs than I did. So my desires made me feel guilty.

I guess now I can desire not to feel guilty, but it isn't easy. And still selfish. I guess. I don't know. I guess the easiest thing for me to do is to desire to be a good person. Now I know some people will say things like good is subjective. What is good? Well what is a desire? A desire is personal and changes everyday. Desires are very personal and should probably stay that way.

#desire #prose #streamofconcious #challenge #offthebrain #freewrite #thoughful #follow

Death is Life giving you one final kiss. Life is all around us constantly. It is there when you wake up. It is there when you walk through the neighborhood. It is their when you listen to the whispers that travel between the trees. It is there at night when you go to sleep.

Death is there too. For all those things. Death is always paitently waiting. Smiling as it watches you enjoy those things. Watching as you bring joy and happiness to other people. Watching as you lay back and smile back at an early morning sunrise. Watching and wishing it could comfort you when you go through sadness and heartbreak, but knowing it is not time.

Death is there for all creatures. For all life. Death is forced to sit on the sidelines by itself. Death is forced to be alone while Life gets to experience everything.

Death is not sad though. Everything might experience Life, but they always end up with Death. Death is kind. It will be there for you constantly. Death will wait for you. It may not always play out as expected, but everyone's last kiss with Life comes in the end. That is when Death tells you it'll be ok.

#death #fiction #inflection #prose #challenge #life