I refuse...

I refuse to accept any less than I deserve.

I refuse to accept less than love.

I refuse to accept less than a whole heart.

I refuse to accept "okay."

I refuse to accept mediocre compassion.

I refuse to accept shame.

I refuse to accept disconnection.

I refuse to accept lack of meaning and purpose.

I refuse to accept bare minimum.

I refuse to accept lack of communication.

I refuse to accept lack of respect.

I refuse to accept an ugly heart.

I refuse to accept that I can't have everything I want.

I want it all and I refuse to accept anything less. 

~Yasaman Nafisi

Goodbye...

There are lifetimes in a single goodbye. 

There are moments of stillness, of laughter and joy. 

There are breaths taken and not yet born. 

There are open wounds forgotten and yet raw. 

There are memories that heal and memories that gnaw. 

In a single goodbye lives a world unspoken yet true. 

Goodbye is the bridge between the old and the new. 

Hearts beat, eyes open, tears flow.

Goodbyes are pregnant with love untold; leaving behind, forging forward into the unknown. 

~Yasaman Nafisi

Truth and lies...

Hands lie. Lips lie. Bodies lie. Even eyes betray. Looks can kill. And whispers can be deafening. Only in silence do you find the truth and peace. In words not spoken is an ocean of meaning and loudness that is unbearable. What is not done is the undoing of all. What is not heard is what makes you go deaf to the music of life. 

~Yasaman Nafisi

Sometimes selfies are therapeutic...

When you stop feeling...

Today I tried to cry after my heart broke for the millionth time. I tried but I couldn't. I was sad but I couldn't cry. I surprised myself when I heard my heart split but no tear drop came out. I felt my lungs collapse just a little, but still, nothing could be felt in my heart. I panicked a little, not knowing what to do; my thoughts fading, not able to talk. I wondered if this is the result of too many cracks and an ocean of tears. I wondered if finally I am lost. I wondered if I might feel again and for whom and for what. This is the story of love. This is the story of life. This is the story of death. The absence of light brought with it the dark. Now I can't see pain but I also can't see love.

~Yasaman Nafisi

When you've had too much...

There are times when you know you have gone in a direction that is a one way street. There are things in life that, once seen, you cannot recover from. There are places in the mind and heart that die. There are places in the soul that once exposed, shrink and wilt from the poison. There are hairs that turn grey and fall out. There are cells in your body that dissolve when in contact with the river of pain that was formed when your dreams split in half from the earthquakes in your heart. There is no turning back. It's a one way street. You go forward and as you move, the walls behind you close and the street disappears. You leave one place and arrive at another. Here, you hope, maybe you can find a home for your soul, a place of rest. You sit down and thank the powers above that there exists another dimension, another time. And you wonder if maybe one day you will forget and your memory will be erased and that those moments of déjà vu will feel warm and safe, like you're coming home.

~Yasaman Nafisi

When we fight...

Just because children have parents, doesn't mean they are not orphans. And just because your parents have died, doesn't mean you're alone. The tragedy of what we create when we are at war with ourselves and with each other are the children we leave behind, the souls we lose when we are trying to find ourselves. We slowly kill their hopes and beliefs; we quickly steal their joy and happiness. We leave them feeling alone and unloved, sad and angry. We tell ourselves this is better. Better than what? Than having a home? Than belonging to someone? We lie to ourselves in order to live. We tell ourselves the story of a distorted reality so we can feel better about who we are. We let go, and in doing so we create a new generation that doesn't know how to hold on. We teach the future that nothing is worthwhile, not even love, not even you.

~Yasaman Nafisi