The Challenge

The Challenge — Blue Ink Alchemy

You. I challenge you. I may hear you across a room. Read your messages or tweets. See you in a mirror. Doesn't matter. I demand satisfaction. I challenge you to love. Let compassion prevail over myopia. I challenge you to change perspective. I know another's shoes don't fit; that they're painful and weird, especially to walk a mile in them. I challenge you to walk in them anyway. I challenge you to silence your fear. Allow light to dispel the shade you'd throw on another. Would you want another to diminish your shine? No? Then I challenge you to not diminish others'. I challenge you to rise above your bullshit. I challenge you to be mindful. To listen to the lessons of music. To say "I will survive". To break "the sound of silence". To remember that you'll never know "who lives, who dies, who tells your story". I challenge you to unchain your heart from the pain of the past. I challenge you to learn from failure and doubt. I challenge you to move in the direction of tomorrow. I challenge you to embrace the joy of simply being alive. I challenge you to take up arms, to rail against ignorance and indecision, to fucking fight for yourself. I challenge you to believe. Believe in yourself. And if you're gonna dig, I challenge you to dig for the heavens.

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Blue Ink Alchemy

The Fire

The Fire — Blue Ink Alchemy

The plan was that I'd just go away. That I would cease to exist. They would blow out the fire inside of me. They've never seen fire like mine before. This isn't a campside fire. This isn't a flicked Bic. This is not a yule log ready for chestnuts. I don't burn like those fires. My fire comes from deep within. Stoked by years of grief and anger. Fed lies and tears and the ichor of lost love. I burn like the core of the earth. In that fire I am forged anew. Tempered, beaten, squelched, and ignited, Over and over, day after day, without reprieve. I am someone you've never seen. My kindness has been mistaken for weakness. I've been cuckolded, manipulated, pushed to despair. Voices within and voices without conspiring to end me. Underestimating me is your biggest mistake. I slay the voices within when they get too loud. I shove cowards and abusers out of my life. I fight until I bleed to keep faith with true friends. I have not given up on happiness or love. I will continue to burn like no other fire. I will remain this terrifying beacon in the night. Catch the scent of my flame on the wind. And follow it. If you dare.

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Blue Ink Alchemy

My Fire

My Fire — Blue Ink Alchemy

The plan was that I'd just go away. That I would cease to exist. They would blow out the fire inside of me. They've never seen fire like mine before. This isn't a campside fire. This isn't a flicked Bic. This is not a yule log ready for chestnuts. I don't burn like those fires. My fire comes from deep within. Stoked by years of grief and anger. Fed lies and tears and the ichor of lost love. I burn like the core of the earth. In that fire I am forged anew. Tempered, beaten, squelched, and ignited, Over and over, day after day, without reprieve. I am someone you've never seen. My kindness has been mistaken for weakness. I've been cuckolded, manipulated, pushed to despair. Voices within and voices without conspiring to end me. Underestimating me is your biggest mistake. I slay the voices within when they get too loud. I shove cowards and abusers out of my life. I fight until I bleed to keep faith with true friends. I have not given up on happiness or love. I will continue to burn like no other fire. I will remain this terrifying beacon in the night. Catch the scent of my flame on the wind. And follow it. If you dare.

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Blue Ink Alchemy