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I’m not here to force you into the light.
Or to tell you it’s “just a phase.”
Or to pretend I know exactly what you’ve been carrying.

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I just wanted you to know—

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You haven’t failed.
You haven’t missed your moment.
And your numbness is not a sign that joy forgot you.

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It’s a sign your soul went quiet to survive.

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Sometimes, the system goes dark not because it’s broken—
but because it needed a reset.

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Because too much was happening,
and not enough was holding you.

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So let this be the holding.

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No expectations. No performance. No gold stars.

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Just a small reminder:

Joy is not gone.
It’s just waiting where you stopped looking—
beneath the pressure,
beneath the grief,
beneath the part of you that had to keep going when it was too much.

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You don’t have to chase it.
You don’t have to earn it.

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Just breathe.
And when it’s time…
even the smallest flicker will be enough.

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Even a single, quiet yes can begin again.

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—From the one who saved you a seat in the sun.

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© 2025 Nikkia Gumbs · The House of the Sun

This work is a gift.  It may be shared freely—with credit and care. But it may not be sold, altered, or folded into any system that seeks profit.  You may carry it. You may teach from it.  You may whisper it to someone who forgot their light.  But you may not use it  to build your brand, sell a product, or extract value.  This is not content. This is living sunlight. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International.   creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0