Lemonade

When life gives you lemons, lovelies...

(you know what I mean)

If you only ever read one post I write on here, let it be this one.

Everyone needs to read this... not because it's the most profound blog post you'll ever read, and I'm the Shakespeare blogger of the 21st century or the next J.K Rowling.

(it isn't and i don't claim to be--my lack of talent pales in comparison to their overabundance of it.)

or because you're my Nation full of lovelies & I'm your fearless princeless princess who loves love too much for her own good.

(although you are all the loveliest humans i've been blessed to interact with & i love each & everyone of you.)

 nor is it because I care about "how many followers I can get" or "I want endless profile views".

(i don't...i'd be a liar if i said i didn't want people to take my words & sift through them with me for meaning & purpose meant to teach & inspire. but that's not the reason i write. it's not my Nation, it's yours too. my words are for you, lovely. after all, what good is anything in life if you don't share it with anyone, if you keep it locked away in the dark when you could be inspiring others who are inspirationless & about to give up, when you could potentially save a life with your story because the people who need to hear it are either headed or already on a path full of trials & heartache [almost identical to yours] that you've survived & could help them through it by being vulnerable & brave enough to share your experiences, when it's part of what you were born to do, when you turn your blood into ink, when we are saved only by love--love for each other & the love that we pour into the art we feel compelled to share by being a writer; being a friend, as Tennessee Williams observed 'We live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love', when you're letting fear stop you even though you are a massive forest full of beautiful and vibrant stories and every single one of them deserves you more than those that abandoned you to hell, when words are magic, when they bring light to those stuck in that hellish dark place and you could offer a glimpse of heaven, when even though I feel like Peyton Sawyer--either saying too much or not enough and then they're gone--but I don't care what the haters, the naysayers, the worldly people out there think [i, for the record, don't hate anyone] if we all gave in to people like that, what a sad place this planet would be, i refuse to let one of the greatest regrets in my life be what others want me to be, rather than being myself and loving me for me, and when i know the reason and always have...)

i write because it's right.

Lovelies, don't squander your astonishing potential because your life and potential are priceless.

I am a small city girl with big dreams.

To those who tell me my dreams are too big, I counter that and confront them with the truth that theirs aren't big enough. 

We all know that famous, cutesy Audrey Hepburn quote: "Nothing is impossible. The word itself says 'i'm possible'."

Those of you who know me know me, know the girl behind the blog of inspiration and endless love, know that one of my top 5 dreams is to write and publish my books, my novels, my story. I want to be a writer. The only bad writers are the ones that give up. Believe. I am here to tell you with an infinite amount of certainty that miracles, as rare as they are, are real. They happen to the ones who work hard, never give up, endure, love, change, grow, hurt, keep the faith, and don't let the bitter ones bring them down. I am a miracle. But that's another story for another day...

Even if my dream of becoming a best selling published author never see the light of day, if this blog, if these posts (my heart and soul in words) can save or inspire even one person it will have counted for something and worth everything.

As I said, if you only ever decide to make time to read one entry this is the important one.

...

STOP&READ. 🚦🚦🚦📓
If you read ANYTHING today, read this 👇🏼

To every girl and boy who gossip about me publicly, privately, on social media, in hushed corners, to those who judge me, to those who have stabbed me in the back, to the closeminded or misunderstood, to the just plain mean, to those who love to try, with every fiber of their pathetic being, to make me feel worthless, unworthy of love (or anything), and use my pain and my past to taunt me as a sick form of entertainment, pleasure, and power, to those who broke my heart. 

Guess what? 

You may have made it your mission to break me [and I'll admit you almost succeeded with the living hell you turned my life into] but you didn't. I'm not broken. All of you challenged me to become the girl I wanted to be my whole life. The best me. The badass princess that I am. I am stronger because of the pain, trials, sleepless nights, overwhelming anxiety and deep depression you put me through, and no matter what you have done to me, you have unknowingly done so much more for me. I will ALWAYS be unconditionally and unfailingly kind. Your bitterness and hatred can't change that. As the heroic, Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl said best: "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." 

Your hatred will never take away my love. Your cruelty won't make me pernicious. Your ice cold veins can't steal my warmth. I'm one of the kindest, most loving girls in existence. You may be heartless, but I have a heart bursting at the seams full of love. You can take everything I have, try to tear me down, but you can't take me or break me. I am not you. And I never will be. You can pin me down with a hundred arms, but I will resist. I won't stop believing. I will love into hate, into refusal, against hope and without fear.  Remember. You cannot take it. I am fearless. I forgive you AND love you. 

I honestly pray that you will someday find true happiness and discover that trying to steal other people's happiness will never make you any less miserable.

I would never treat or inflict hurt upon a person like that. Being the sweetheart that I am, I always try to see the good in people and ignore the bad. Thank you for teaching me I can love people that have harmed me and not let them back in my life.

Love > Hate.

 This world needs love and decency. There's enough heartache, warring with yourself, chaos, tragedy, trials, sadness, and misery in this world. You never know what someone is going through. Choose kindness. Have heart. What it all comes down to is this: all 7+ billion souls and human beings, despite our vast differences, want to be loved. Don't be a bully. Be better. Love is the answer. It always has been and it always will be. Fight for love, don't love to fight. 

<W/L3 Charley Brooke [aka Queen C, the next best thing to Queen Bey ;)]

Run

'

"The scariest moment is always just before you start."

"If only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world."

"I know what love is; only because I've came in contact with what it isn't."

"You're better off being alone that with someone who makes you feel alone."

"Be the energy you want to attract."

"If it didn't matter you wouldn't be thinking about it."

"I will teach my daughter how to love, but most important how to stop. They never teach you how to stop."

"Just a reminder that you're who without someone else. You are not a fraction. You're a complete masterpiece all by yourself."

"Be patient with all things, but especially yourself."

"Because sometimes the people you can't live without, can live without you."

"I hope you're thinking about me. Because I'll always be thinking about you."

^Throwing it back to CiCi (Charley Brooke) 2012 (:

"It's a very powerful feeling when someone sees you as the person you wish you were."

Excerpts from my journal "Here(Hear)You Me" in 2012...

"I am entirely morose, depressed, and dead inside right how. I just feel so disconnected and lack a sense of belonging. I feel alone everywhere I go no matter how many people happen to be around me or how close they are. I'm sick of everything, really. This is just hitting the surface of what I'm feeling.  It's nearly impossible to put it into words. Happiness is a complete stranger to me. It's like everyone is living their lives and going places, and me? I'm stuck in slow motion with no one going nowhere. I don't even know what else to say... I don't even know what else to think.. No one understands. No one really knows me, not even you."

"I don't remember what it feels like to be happy. What is this thing you call happiness? I don't feel anything at all. They say the best things in life come free to us but so do the worst things. Do you know that silence has a sound that can be defeaning?"

"Drowning on dry land... did you know that it's possible? Or at least it can feel like you are? Feel like you cannot breathe because of the constant, crushing pressure surrounding you? I know. I like to, no...have to, believe that everything I've been searching for is in reach, even if it's impossibly hidden."

"I want to catch a break but I'm only breaking down. Breaking apart. Broken. Falling, falling, forever falling to pieces. Fading. Invisible. Disappearing. Gone. And no one notices or cares. It's an effortless mess, my SOS calling out to deaf ears in distress. The girl (me, I) is hopeless. She's open for suggestions. She can barely breathe. Countless questions. Is she wonderful? Do you wonder at her? Or, is it any wonder [her fate]? Full of wonder. Wondering. Waiting. Is it mere coincidence the fact that fate rhymes with wait or something deeper? I'm getting weaker. And you, you, you. You. It ends with you, or more accurately begins with you. Always you. Only you. Perfect you. The one. Will you come or run? She can be found on the ground. Find me. Save me. Embrace me. Press me to you. Hold me. Tighter. Never letting go or you'd fall, too. Strength in two becoming one. Learn me. Feel me. Catch me. Take me. Love me. I am yours forever. Irrevocably. Unconditional hearts and love. Enduring. Wishing. Hoping. Dreaming. Living. Flying. Breathing. Like stars crashing into each other in a cold, dark light years length, infinite galaxy, transforming into one radiant, bright, wonderstuck, breathlessly, beautiful shining star full of light filling the sky and each other with warmth and electricity. We are a star. You are my star. Guide me home."

Lovelies, I love you. Not everyday is perfect and sunshiney but through writing and speaking up and out you can help others. 
I hope you are all making you dreams come true. Never forget your loveliness.
I love you and am always here.
<W/L3
C h a r l e y B r o o k e