Finding freedom in being a bridge

a love letter to an older version of me

left photo by Kara Milstein; right photo by Arnold Genthe

I am a bridge—

I live in the in-between.

The mystery of life,

all four seasons of death and rebirth.

It has always been this way. In high school, though, I had another word for being a bridge: chameleon. And I harshly critiqued & judged myself for this, for being adaptable in social situations & befriending people across many different cliques.

Much of my judgment came from the fact that I often befriended people who had strong, polarizing personalities. I compared myself to them, wondering why I wasn’t polarizing in the same way. I thought it must be because I was a people-pleaser or naive high schooler desperate to fit in.

At one point, some of those things were true — I have struggled with people-pleasing and self-abandonment. I wore a firm mask, and I was desperate to fit in. And it was incredibly isolating feeling like I didn’t have one particular group, or I wasn’t confident and powerful enough to have a stronger essence.

But as I’ve been in the process of peeling back the layers, of setting down the mask and unshielding my truest essence, I realize that this part of me—this being a bridge—has nothing to do with people pleasing or abandoning myself. It is a vital part of who I’ve always been.

A bridge

Devotee of meeting people where they are

Supporter of the full spectrum of the human experience

Connector of people who have nothing in common

A lover of people, for all that they are

Entirely multi-faceted in my interests & hobbies & desires, I can never be just one thing

Underneath the mask, I find liberation here.

Consider this a reclamation—

Being a bridge is my gift.

To meet people exactly where they are, without judgment, without the desire to change them.

To see them & love them for exactly who they are in a given moment.

This is why I am a coach, a guide of humans treading the waters of their internal magic.

This is a love letter to myself, who couldn’t always see my own gifts. This is an honoring of all the other bridges out there. There is magic in exactly who you are.

<3
Christie