Loving Through the Flames

I made this piece a while ago, but lately I’ve found myself thinking about it differently. There has been so much darkness in the news lately. Stories of violence against women. Rape. War. Famine. Genocide. Racism. Loss. And, painfully, these stories are not singular. They are not new. They are reminders of how dark the world can become when humanity forgets humanity. I don’t watch scary movies. I don’t seek out murder mysteries. I’ve never understood the desire to voluntarily sit with darkness for entertainment. Maybe it’s because I know too well that the real world already contains enough of it. I’ve experienced my own share of pain. Loss. Grief. Things I never would have chosen to live through. Moments that felt like they could consume me if I let them. And that is where this piece came from. A heart in flames, (inspired by the Sacred Heart) burning, but still a heart. Still capable of loving. I originally called the idea “Learning to Love Through the Flames.” Because sometimes love doesn’t mean that everything is beautiful. Sometimes love means choosing tenderness when the world gives you every reason to become hardened. Choosing compassion without becoming blind. Choosing hope without denying the darkness. The flames represent the pain. The heart represents what we refuse to let the pain take from us. I don’t want to spend my life looking away from the darkness. But I also don’t want to live inside of it. So I’m learning to love through the flames. To let my light be louder than the darkness. We are the light. We are the fire. And we can burn through pain with love. ❤️‍🔥