Vincent Matias

03/24/2025

The thing about grief is that other people tend to forget you’re doing it. Or they think that after a week or two, you should be over it.

But you and I know it doesn’t work that way, right?

We have to somehow strike a balance between the act of grieving, and our total lack of control over it, along with the will to continue living life and making plans.

But grief is a tricky thing. There’s an array of thoughts and emotions I continue to face in my grief that’s somehow invisible and unfamiliar to everyone else. So, I talk about it, and write about it, in order to shed a little light on the unseen and unknown.

The only people who can understand this are those of us who have experienced a tremendous loss.

How do you explain to people who have no idea what you’re experiencing that it’s been several months and you’re still crying yourself to sleep? That you’re always sad?

How do you show them what you had to witness with your own eyes, or explain to them why you still just want the person you love to come back?

Here’s the thing…you can’t!
It’s not just their death that we struggle with, it’s also the regret of all the things said and done during the time in which they were still alive. And it’s in all the things you can’t say or do now that they’re gone.

It’s not just about the last interaction you had with someone, it’s about all of it: the birthdays, the holidays, the hugs, the talks, the trips together. It’s about the lifetime of good memories.

When someone you love is taken from you suddenly, your brain has a way of doing whatever it does when you experience a traumatic event, it holds onto it tight, and constantly floods you with thoughts of it.

The unfortunate truth is that we’re all susceptible to grief, because we’re all able to love. The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief. And I think it’s worth it.

Maybe nothing’s ever really gone? I don’t know.
But what I do know is that I’m still trying to reconcile the fact that every day is just another day without my loved one in it.
And…that will never change.

- Gary Sturgis

03/14/2025

03/14/2025

If the mountain seems too big today
then climb a hill instead;
If morning brings you sadness
it’s okay to stay in bed.
If the day ahead feels heavy and your plans feel like a curse,
There’s no shame in rearranging,
don’t make yourself feel worse.
If a shower stings like needles
and a bath feels like you’ll drown;
If you haven’t washed your hair for days,
don’t throw away your crown!
A day is not a lifetime.
A rest is not defeat.
Don’t think of it as failure,
Just a quiet, kind retreat.
It’s okay to take a moment
From an anxious, fractured mind.
The world will not stop turning
While you get realigned!
The mountain will still be there
When you want to try again
You can climb it in your own time,
Just love yourself till then.

- Laura Ding-Edwards

03/14/2025

"Real time is slower than social-media time, where everything feels urgent. Real time often includes periods of silence, reflection, growth, space, self-forgiveness, processing with loved ones, rest, and responsibility."

- Adrienne Maree Brown

- Artwork : esthetician_art

03/14/2025

"Move on, what you miss no longer exists."

03/14/2025

Go ahead. Call me the villain.

Tell everyone I’m the psychopath. The problem. The unhinged, crazy one who made your life so “difficult.” Spin whatever story helps you sleep at night. Paint me as the monster if it makes you feel like the hero.

But if you’re going to tell it, at least have the courage to tell the whole story.

Tell them about the names you called me—not once, not twice, but daily. The ones that chipped away at my self-worth until I started to believe I was as worthless as you said I was. Tell them how you weaponized my kindness, my loyalty, my love—turning everything good in me into something you could exploit.

Tell them how I carried it all—physically, emotionally, financially—while you sat back and took it for granted, never lifting a finger to help. Tell them how you drained me, piece by piece, until I wasn’t sure there was anything left of me to give.

And let’s not forget the moments that would really shock them. Like how you cheated on me because apparently, creating life together wasn’t thrilling enough for you. Or how lying became your second language—how you could look me in the eye and swear up and down you were telling the truth, even when the evidence was staring us both in the face.

Let’s not leave out the part where your wants, your vices, your selfish indulgences always came first. Always. While I was left to pick up the pieces, and your own children wondered where they ranked on your list of priorities. Spoiler alert: they weren’t even on the list.

But sure, keep telling people I’m the villain. Keep rewriting history to make yourself the victim. Keep spinning your web of lies if it makes you feel better about what you did.

Here’s the thing, though: no matter how many times you tell a lie, it will never become the truth. And the people who really know us? They see through you. They always have.

But I’ll let you talk. I’ll let you tell your version of events. Because I’ve learned something important: I don’t need to defend myself anymore. The truth doesn’t need my help.

And here’s the part you’ll never understand: being the “villain” in someone else’s story doesn’t make me the villain in my own. I know who I am. I know what I gave, what I endured, and what I walked away from.

So, go ahead. Call me crazy. Call me unhinged. Call me whatever makes you feel better. I don’t need your approval, and I certainly don’t need your lies.

Because while you’re busy rewriting the past, I’m over here building a future—one where I’m free. And that? That’s the part of the story you’ll never be able to control.

03/14/2025

The special thing about you is that, for the first time in my life, I felt the desire not just to love but to truly live with you. It was not just about fleeting happiness or stolen moments. It was the longing to share every sunrise and every quiet midnight, to walk through all the seasons of life together. With you, life felt less like a routine and more like a journey worth embracing, with all its imperfections and all its beauty.

I want to wake up beside you, not just on the good days but on the days when the world feels heavy. I want to celebrate our victories, no matter how small, and hold your hand through every storm. To build a life together, not perfect but real. Because with you, living is not just about existing. It is about feeling every heartbeat, every breath, knowing that no matter where this road leads, we will walk it together.

— Chamod Senevirathne

Grow up

03/14/2025

You may not always see it, but your presence in this world has left ripples far beyond what you know.
Someone still smiles at a memory you created together, still feels comforted by the kindness you once showed, and still finds courage in the words you spoke.

Someone hums a song that reminds them of you, sees beauty in the world because you pointed it out, and carries your wisdom in their heart.
Someone stands a little taller because you believed in them, walks a little lighter because you were there, and dreams bigger because you told them they could.
You matter more than you realize ..

( ✍️ Writer’s Blossoms )

Art : Irene Marino