Empathy
I want to know your ache.
And not just the one that you have packaged up neatly. Not the watered down, the silver lining, or the appropriate version. I want to know the ache within the ache. I want to know who you are when everything else is stripped away.
Then, and only then, will I tell you that I sat by my sister’s bed and prayed for the sweet relief of death to take her spirit. Only then will I tell you that I share the pain, the universal pain, disguised in different circumstances but always the same. Hold my hand as we open our eyes to the truth that we are both fundamentally alone and have an undeniable kinship with all living beings. Look me in the eye and tell me what makes you crumble and I promise I won’t look away. For I know that the amount of wisdom we gain is directly proportional to the storms we have walked through, not around. Tell me that you will still risk it all for love, despite your deepest betrayal. Tell me the ache within the ache and I will tell you mine.
Ashley, CANADA