Today I Feel Heartbroken

I’ve been heartbroken over so many boys the past years that I’ve lost count (please don’t make me count). But there are also a lot of other things and people that have added to the cracks and fissures in my heart : friendships that ended without you realizing why, damaged bridges that cannot be mended, wounding words that echo continuously, unrequited love that will forever remain unsaid, dreams that can never come true, disappointment in a God that I formed in my head.

There are heartbreaks that you can paper over until they become scars that you barely notice. There are those that will forever be part of your fractured heart. There are those that you can use as fuel for your creative pursuits. There are those that can inevitably change you.

You cannot escape heartbreak as it is part and parcel of being human. But what happens after you’ve put the pieces back together can be both simple and extraordinary. The process is not immediate but getting there is a journey in itself. You can create amazing things that touch other people. You can become strong enough for others who are going through their own pain. You can use your story to point to the One who healed your wounds. 

IF YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING

Read this poem and think about how it makes you feel (write down your feelings if you want)

'Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone'

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, 

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, 

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum 

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. 

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead 

Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead, 

Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves, 

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. 

He was my North, my South, my East and West, 

My working week and my Sunday rest, 

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; 

I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong. 

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one; 

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun; 

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; 

For nothing now can ever come to any good. 

W H Auden

JOURNALING PROMPT:

Write your own poem of heartbreak and lament. Go back to it after a year and see how far you've come.