Flare & Flourish

Change is supposed to be beautiful That’s what people say. A doorway. A glow-up. A fresh start. But when I listen to Taylor Swift’s “Change,” I don’t just hear hope—I hear the quiet fear underneath it. The part no one talks about. The part that made me stop and think about myself. Because I don’t like change. I don’t like when food tastes different than it did yesterday. I don’t like new clothes that don’t feel like me yet. I don’t like shoes that haven’t learned the shape of my feet. I don’t like new environments where the air feels unfamiliar. I don’t like changes in medication that make my body feel like a stranger. I don’t like the feeling of being unprepared. Change feels loud to me, even when it’s small. It interrupts routines that took time to build. It asks me to trust something I don’t understand yet. It shows up uninvited and expects me to adapt immediately, as if comfort is something easily replaceable. What the song made me realize is that change isn’t always about exciteme...

Where the Year Begins Again At midnight, time exhales its breath, A silver pause between the beats. The old year loosens what it kept, Lays down its weight at tired feet. We stand with pockets full of moments— Some gold, some cracked, some barely whole, Yet still they shine with quiet proof Of how we lived, of how we grew. The future doesn’t knock or shout, It opens like a waiting door, Asking only for our courage, Not perfection—nothing more. So light the sky with small intentions, Let hope arrive without a map. The year begins not with a promise, But with a brave, becoming step. Here’s to mornings yet unnamed, To growth that comes in unseen ways, To choosing wonder over fear— Welcome, new and waiting days. https://x.com/FlareflourishF