you know what it’s like to be shaken. there were days and days you’ve been unsure when you’ve walked through fire, danger nipping heels
yet even then, even in those moments something stood up in your heart, a line not to be crossed, a barrier you would not allow to be broken
when a force arose and said, no. not this. enough. no further.
i know for a fact, my friend that this—is courage.
but remember that the times you’ve felt the sweetest kiss of spring well up within your soul and words of beauty escaped your lips with joy unbridled, waterfalls of overflowing
you may not know it yet, but leaning into this even when you know that darkness all too well exists— this is courage too.
courage resists the dark but is equally detectable by participating in the light
heather pound 2025
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it wasn’t that you had done far, far too much for way, way too long
that burnout inched up closer…and closer… until it charged and l-e-a-p-t and hobbled you unexpected.
it wasn’t what you did at all but what you did not do.
when you didn’t acknowledge the ache lingering beside your heart and thought if you disregarded it, it would one day slip away.
when you did not notice your natural human needs growing and piling up until they were an unsteady tower, precarious.
when you didn’t listen as your mind and body grew increasingly unsettled, unfocused distracted by the chaos of ‘busy’ instead.
so, pause, turn towards your heart with courage recognise your urgent needs and listen to your helpful body’s request for calm
if not this instant, today.
—burnout is not about excessive outward production, it is dysregulation and all of those niggling internal cues you’ve ceased to see. trust me, making adjustments now is waaaaay easier than coming back from burnout.
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the morning of the launch of my book was like the day of my wedding where I’d focused on planning the celebration ahead for days and weeks before
but on the daybreak of, i realised this was a time where things near and dear to my heart, things most precious and cherished would be on display
and the vulnerability of this well, it made me shake.
quite literally on the day that i wed as i posed for photos and the muscles of my smile trembled and i had to frequently pause and breathe to get the photos we wanted and the photographer wisely said let’s just take a silly one and we pulled funny faces instead.
i love that photo still since it’s just me and my kids letting the ‘proper’ slip and our inner weirdness out and isn’t that vulnerable too?
another favorite of that day is when we were caught the six of us in our first official family hug, unplanned, unnoticed affection on display, exposed a couple across an ocean now wed four fatherless children held by strong arms.
and it was the moment when i was reading out poems from my beloved book and the faces watching began to respond and i saw the words that were mine connecting with them, that i remembered vulnerability is nearly always worth it.
heather pound 2025
Photo by Jeremy Podborny
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a morsel of wisdom is worth every wrinkle upon your face, grey hair above your head.
she is the blanket soft, yet fierce of those who have wandered long enough to realise that even when she instructs you walk a path more rugged than you’d choose, that her advice is worth it.
she is a warm and velvet comfort that rests upon your skin, yet more watchful, protective, honest than any kind of armour polished you used to strive to wear.
life with her is peaceful, pure more than you ever comprehended when your simple, constant default was to take the easy road
and all the things you gathered when you were merely young and have needed to unlearn
were worth every tear you shed as you leaned right in and learned the harmonious, crystal voice of her wise, protective words.
~heather pound
Photo by Getty Images
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if you walk out your door anxious looking here and there for information that proves you are somehow defective or not enough
that you don’t quite fit in or are inherently strange in the opinion of others around, the truth is---if you seek evidence of things like these then you will always find it.
but here is what you must understand before you waste another moment trapped in cycles such as these:
this fact, it is true for e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e everywhere always, each and every human has experiences like these.
but the beauty of this phenomenon of finding what you seek is if you alter what you’re perpetually searching for then you will find that too.
after living in places far and wide country to country locale to locale, i delight in the fact that
i live in an area now where i run into people i know casually at the chemist or walking along the beach (walks take much longer this way)
that the man who owns the dairy stocks my favourite harder-to-find popcorn just because i like it (seriously. just for me)
that i live within walking distance to dear friends who would all band together should emergency arise (we discuss this happily from time to time)
that people here get overly excited about things like lower petrol prices or the opening of a supermarket (big news indeed!)
and post on online community pages when emergency vehicles wail past (making sure everyone is okay)
that there are miniature fairy villages down by the beach at the bases of trees. they are undamaged and are still being added to several years on (no one knows who’s doing it!)
it’s not that this place is perfect but it’s a quiet place where i know others and am known (and it’s mine)
Heather Pound 