Golden Strands | Profound Devastation to Soul Transformation

Not diminished. Not unfinished. Whole, radiant, and beautifully human.

August 17, 2025

The other day, I wrote a blog post about the death of my dad. It was real, raw, and heartbreaking. I ended it with these words:

“My dad died on April 11, 2025.

Six days before my reality exploded.

I am not the same.”

And that is true.

But I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. I’ve been pretty deep in my suffering, processing multiple profound personal losses. Still, I know that is not where I will stay. I know that the events of this year have not broken me. They have expanded me.

This poem is about that.

Golden Strands

I am not the same.

This year has changed me.

It has been heartbreaking,

gut-wrenching,

and profoundly devastating.

Despite everything—I am not broken.

My light has not dimmed.

My heart and my values are the same.

What tore through me was not destruction,

but a soul transformation—a transformation that rewrote my relationship with myself,

and crowned me with a truer way of being.

I did not shatter.

I expanded.

And I stitch this vastness into form

with golden strands of standards,

self-love,

and divine possibility.

Not as repair,

but as radiance embodied.

Every thread glitters—alive with dignity,

desire,

devotion,

and destiny.

I do not just shine brighter for what I’ve lived.

I set the horizon alight.

I do not just endure.

I rise with grit and grace,

crowned with fire.

I am not diminished,

nor am I unfinished.

I am whole.

I am Home.

I am beautifully human.

Ablaze with the spark of my own abundance

that has always existed within me.

What lies ahead for me

is breathtaking,soul-filling,

life-giving.

Magnificent beyond imagination.

The future burns bright—and I am its flame.