Ride The Waves

I used to try to swim against the current.

In my mind, I had to at least attempt to swim past… right?

I take pride in the fact that I never give up.

That makes me strong. Resilient. A fighter.

But trying and giving my all was leading me to drown.

With each stroke, I found myself under water.

I would try to catch my breath as I mustered the courage to try yet again.

Frustration and disappointment would be an understatement.

I couldn’t comprehend why I was in the same exact position

no matter how hard I tried to swim through and weather the storm.

Each failed attempt was disheartening, but I still tried repeatedly.

My logic was this: With so much time spent,

what a shame it would be to have my efforts be for nothing.

So I continued to swim against the currents,

still baffled every single time I found myself drowning.

It took a while for me to learn from my mistakes.

Until one day, I decided to do something different – the unthinkable.

I was exhausted, hanging by a thread spiritually, and at my breaking point –

I decided to give up the fight and see where the waves take me.

My guard was still up, ready to start aggressively swimming

the moment I felt things were going south.

But I decided to trust the waves…

Maybe they were trying to tell me something this whole time.

I took a deep breath, and let the current take me wherever I had to go.

I didn’t resist or panic, but I was afraid.

Still, I decided to trust the process and surrender to what was.

The waves continued to crash down on me.

I feared that I made a huge mistake, but I resisted the urge to swim.

I started to ride the waves instead of trying to go against them.

I took each wave slowly, one by one, until I was in calmer waters.

After a while, I saw that I was being led to a beautiful place.

I found myself in the eye of the storm.

Now I understand what it means to weather a storm within myself.

Like the waves, everything comes and goes as it should.

Ride the waves instead of resisting them.

You’ll be surprised to see that you are floating.

Alternate Reality

I see you, you see me.

My face lights up, as does yours.

I can’t believe you’re sitting right in front of me.

I run to you with wide open arms.

We embrace, and I don’t want to let go,

for I know this moment is too good to be true.

“I missed you,” you tell me happily.

I’m still in shock, how is it that you’re right here?

I sit next to you and link onto your arm.

I start to weep, but I don’t want you to see me crying.

Somehow, even in my dreams I know this can’t be reality.

I try to hide my tear-stained face because you seem to be

completely unaware that in my reality, you have passed on.

But I cherish the moment anyways because it feels that real.

I’d like to believe that my dreams are not only signs from you,

but in some way, an alternate reality where I can still meet you from time to time.

These, damn near real, dreams and experiences remind me that

our love for you transcends lifetimes.

Thank you for visiting me.

My Garden

A beautiful garden takes time and dedication.

You just don’t hope for a garden to appear –

you strategically plan for what it will be.

For you are not only prepping for the flowers themselves,

but the entire environment for where they will grow.

You can’t expect a full garden to thrive

when you haven’t even considered the necessities:

space, water, light, nutrients, and temperature.

When the basic needs are nurtured and cared for,

only then can you go above and beyond the ordinary.

My garden started off empty, but what

kept me consistent was the idea of what it could be.

I knew if I kept caring for my garden,

eventually the fruits of my labor would appear.

I hand-picked the seeds I wanted to grow.

I focused in on what I needed to improve.

I started to water myself, nurturing my soul.

Now, my garden is starting to bloom in full effect.

The seeds that I have planted many seasons ago

are finally starting to blossom.

I never thought my garden would be possible…

But here I am, surrounded by so many flowers.

My garden is full and forever blossoming.

Self-Reflectionz

It was like those movies where they start off in the middle of a scene, and you slowly have to put the context clues together to figure out what is happening. The story started to unfold slowly.

All I know is, I’m hysterically crying, I’m scared, and I can feel it in my gut that I need help. I’m standing in front of a bathroom mirror, looking at myself completely breaking down. I’m erratically crying, and to my left is my older sister at the doorway. I’m yelling at her to help me. It was such a desperate plea, I was begging her to believe me. What was I screaming?

That I needed a fucking exorcism performed on me.

She looked at me calmly. She’s trying to convince me that I’m fine. I look in the mirror, and I have a “That’s So Raven,” moment – I see a flashback of a priest performing an exorcism on me. Michelle kept reassuring me that I was fine, it was taken care of, and whatever darkness lurked in me was gone… Or so they thought.

I was in a panic. I could physically feel my adrenaline going, my heart was pounding out of my chest, and I was sweating. I was fucking terrified. But I was getting mad. In between hysterically crying, I told Michelle that I know for a fact I needed an exorcism. I kept trying to prove to her that I felt off even though on the outside I appeared to be fine.

She was so nonchalant. Giving me a look like, “This bitch is trippin’.” Which makes it funnier, because if anyone knows my older sister personally, they know firsthand that she would be freaking the fuck out, probably run out of the room before I even asked for help. But here she was, not believing me. She was as calm as ever, repeating that there was nothing up with me.

I was so frustrated. There wasn’t anything I could say for her to believe me. How could she tell me what I was feeling? In theory, yes, it should be gone, but it wasn’t. How was she so sure? But I knew it. I knew the truth. I was the one living and feeling it. At that point I knew I had to take matters into my own hands. Nobody was going to believe me. Everyone was just going to try to convince me that I should be okay.

My fight or flight kicked in, and I remember hunching over the bathroom sink, staring myself in the eye in the mirror. I went from weeping uncontrollably to being silently focused. I knew nobody was going to save me. I had to save myself. The only thing I could think to do was pray.

As I prayed, I could literally feel the bad energy leaving my body. I’m reciting the “Our Father,” not breaking eye contact with myself in the mirror. Whatever it was that was possessing my body and mind started to reveal itself, but only in my thoughts. It was a dark energy, and it’s as if a vacuum was pulling it out through my mouth. I kept praying and knew that my faith was stronger than whatever darkness was there.

At the end of it, I felt like me again. Nothing dark dwelled inside me anymore. I felt so light, and a calm took over my body. I looked at my sister, as if performing a damn exorcism on myself was a normal thing to fucking do.

“See, I told you.” I said, looking at myself in the mirror again. Even in a dream, I still had to be a know it all…

I thought about that dream the whole day and some time after. It was so intense and so detailed that I couldn’t shake it off. About 2 weeks after the dream, I told my sister about it and how I interpreted it:

I had that dream about 2 months after a break up. It was still so new and so fresh. Everyone that I told my life update to had advice to give on everything and anything – tips on when and how to move forward, dating, how I should process things, etc. I got so much love and support from all my loved ones, but I took everything with a grain of salt. I’m a very particular person, the queen of detachment at times, so I knew that my healing journey was something that would be entirely my own.

At the end of the day, everything needs to be on my time. I’m the only one that knows how I really feel. You can have a million people in your ear giving you great advice. But what I’ve learned so far is this: There are no rules on how to process things, everyone deals with life differently. All that matters is that you are comfortable with the decisions you make for yourself. You know yourself better than anyone else does. Go at your own pace, allow yourself to feel what you need to feel, and face those uncomfortable -and at times, dark – feelings head on. Avoiding your true feelings will just prolong your healing process. Have faith in knowing that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Thinking about that dream months after the fact, I feel like it was a sign to myself to remember to listen to my gut feelings. You know what’s right for you.

Take What Resonates

“I be reading your shit and crying,”

she said so honestly, I knew she wasn’t lying.

That’s one of the most humbling compliments a writer could get.

The hurt in her voice when she said that, I’ll never forget.

It was a reminder of why I share what I do.

Sometimes I forget people can relate to what I’m going through.

I’m glad that it resonated with her in ways I’ll never truly know,

when late at night and all alone are the only times her feelings will show.

I’m truly grateful for those that take the time to read,

dissecting my words and taking what they need.

Our stories and situations may not be the same,

but having you relate regardless is truly my aim.

So this goes out to the ones that cry when they read my shit,

I’ll take it as the highest form of a compliment that a certain post hit.

Turning The Page

I can feel a shift in the air.

My heart and mind are open.

I feel like a new chapter is ahead of me.

I can’t quite put my finger on it,

but I know good change is on the horizon.

It’s been a while, but I love that gut feeling –

my intuition knows blessings are approaching.

And damn do I deserve all the good things coming my way.

I wake up every day excited for the unknown and what’s to come.

May the chapters get better and better as my story continues.

Finally, a page has been turned.

What’s For You

I’m a true believer in divine timing.

As cliché as it sounds:

What’s for me will never pass me.

And if it passes me, it wasn’t meant to be.

What’s mine will never have to be forced.

So, what a waste of time it would be to wallow in

anger over things that were never for me to begin with.

What is meant for me, will always be mine.

Even if I miss it at a wrong turn,

fate will bring it back time and time again.

Let situations come and pass as they do.

It’s easy to get hung up on the why and try to force fate.

But everything happens for a reason.

Don’t question the divine timing.

What enters your life is meant to enter.

And what exits your life is meant to exit.

What is meant for you will always be yours.

My Tribe

Once upon a time, life as I knew it began to fall apart.

I tried my best to keep it together.

But what goes up, must come down –

and damn did everything come crashing down.

When everything I knew life to be fell to ruins,

I looked around and saw that I was not alone.

My tribe was there, waiting to catch me,

refusing to let me fall straight on my face.

Those I’ve known through different stages of my life gathered,

helping me clean the mess life can sometimes make.

The immense amount of love and support was overwhelmingly beautiful.

I’ll never forget the love and unity I received during my rainy days.

I think back to it now and can confidently say: I didn’t do it alone.

I am strong because the people around me lift me up.

Life never goes as planned.

But there is no way I can ever lose in life

when I have loved ones cheering me on from the sidelines.

Blessed is an understatement.

I’m so thankful for my tribe.

You know who you are.

My Cup

I am responsible for filling my own cup.

That was a lesson I had to learn time and time again the hard way.

I used to question why I would feel so drained and exhausted,

not realizing that I was willingly filling the cups of others to the brim.

And in the end, I was always left without.

On the flipside, when my cup was half full,

I would expect to get that same outpour.

I would show receipts of why my cup was empty,

and though they were valid, I was unknowingly repeating the same vicious cycle.

How did I expect lasting happiness when the moment someone filled me up, I immediately filled another?

I was tired of constantly feeling depleted,

realizing that I was doing it to myself.

It’s okay to fill the cup of others, but don’t neglect your own.

You are responsible for filling and maintaining your own cup.

How can you pour into others when you are half full?

Always fill yourself up first.

100 In Another Life

In another life, you live to be 100.

We still meet at your house every other Sunday.

In another life, the pandemic never happened.

All of the family stayed in the Bay Area.

In another life, we’re watching animals with you on TV.

Your laugh and utter entertainment is still so vivid in my head.

In another life, you live to see me get married.

I look for you in the crowd, grateful you’re there to witness it all.

In another life, my kids are excited to go to “Tatay’s House.”

I watch them play with their great-grandfather who is over 100 years old.

In another life, you don’t need your walker or cane.

You’re walking around freely and being independent – just how you wanted.

In another life, we’re all together and celebrating your 100th birthday today.

But this is not another life, and instead, I put flowers on your grave.

Today, we celebrate what would have been 100.

Oh, how sweet it would’ve been to celebrate a century of Jacinto Cabillo on Earth!

But right now, I’m confident you’re somewhere in your new life.

You’re celebrating with the ones you couldn’t have celebrated with here.

Oh, how sweet that must be for them to celebrate 2 birthdays and counting with you now!

We were lucky enough to have you as long as we did in this life.

Happy 100th birthday to the man that we’ll see in the next life.

We love you, Tatay.