What if she tears down the walls
What if she sings her soul
To the bricks as they fall
And she lies in the rubble
Of what once vehemently protected her
As it now mercifully frees her
And what if she raises instead
A gentle shield
To hold back her demons
As she breathes and reconvenes
©Ashley Castle Barnes
Many of us feel the need to mask or otherwise show up a way in certain spaces that isn’t truly representative of who we are.
We do this for really good reasons – we’ve been taught that how we show up naturally isn’t correct or appropriate or professional or fill in whatever words you’ve been told.
And so we try to adjust. But that is uncomfortable and it’s easier to just build a wall for safety than it is to set a boundary that says, “This is me and this is how I’m showing up.”
They’re not the same, boundaries and walls. I know because I’m a wall builder.
And in my morning writing today, I heard very clearly: “What if there could be a boundary instead of a wall?”
To be fair, most of us were not taught how to have clear and kind boundaries.
We were taught to build protective walls.
We’re learning this now, as adults, and we’re having to unlearn so much piled on stuff in the process.
Layer by layer, stone by stone, we’re digging out.
And in freeing ourselves, we’re free others as well.
Those who interact with us. Those who come after us.
Our children, our spouses, our friends, our coworkers.
One person shifting creates a ripple.
One person’s freedom inspires another.
What walls are you tearing down today?