5 Quotes by Summer Shultz

Confronted with the desert's boundless emptiness, my sense of loneliness shrank down to the point of irrelevance. My sense of self shrank down to the point of irrelevance. To comprehend one's own smallness may for most people be a terrifying experience, but I found it comforting.

The glaring light of the desert sun exposed a person's true face. I could no longer run or hide or pretend to be anything other than what I was.

My fear traveled alongside me as an almost constant companion. It caused me to doubt myself all the time, to hesitate, to second-guess my decisions. Every day, I waged war against my mind and the fear that plagued it. I fought to live a life of my own choosing rather than a life dictated by fear and comfort. I fought the impulse to close, to numb, or to seek some form of escape. Every day, over and over, I chose to see, to stay open, to remain open.

My capacity to break was not a burden or a punishment. It was my gift. My gift was to dare to be broken open again and again.

All I could do was trust the breaking and move forward to greet this newest version of myself, whoever she was and whatever form she decided to take.