Walls. The walls we put up inside ourselves. Walls to protect. Walls that keep out, walls that keep in. What puts up the walls and keeps them there? Fear, worry and insecurity do.

But those walls don’t allow us to breathe and they don’t let the ones we really love, in. To live our true passion, the fire inside of us needs air to burn. Walls smother our inner fire. Don’t smother your fire. Bring your walls down.

The trouble is, those doggone walls, they also keep us in. They keep us from wanting to really live and experience all the amazing things life has to offer. With all of the scary, scary things we’ve been through in the past few years, we have become more introverted. We’ve stayed inside where it is safer, blocked and barricaded. We’ve stopped hugging.

To build a new world we must tear down walls. Just like what’s needed in the outer world, we must clear out the rubble inside our innermost being. That part that is most protected because when we showed people how beautifully sensitive we were, we were exploited. When we showed how deeply we cared, our heart became broken. When we finally summoned the courage to trust, it was betrayed. Healthy boundaries are good, but walls are not. Love yourself enough to not smother your inner fire that fuels your passion to create. Heal yourself enough to tear down your walls to let your heart breathe so it can let love in. I know it’s hard, but try.

Several months ago, I came back to my car from the grocery store and found a fortune from a fortune cookie sitting on top of my dashboard. It’s a mystery how it got there, it must’ve blown there from somewhere in my car on my trip to the store. I’ll never forget it though, it read, “Have the courage to live creatively.”