I want the things I love to define who I am.

I don't want to be defined by the experiences that have caused me sorrow, blunders, or losses. In the same way that I do not want the things that have caused me to be shattered to be the only representations of my existence, I do not want my identity to be a sum of the scars that I have borne.

To be reduced to the times that I have been wounded, the individuals who have left me, or the fights that I have had to face simply to stay going is something that I do not want to be reduced to.

I don’t want my name to be associated with hardship, as if survival is the only thing I’ve ever known.

The things that I adore are the things that I want to characterize myself. The way that my eyes light up when I speak about something that excites me, the way that I get lost in a book and forget that the rest of the world exists, and the way that my heart swells when I hear a song that seems like it was crafted especially for me are all things that I want to be remembered for. My life is not going to be characterized by the horrors that I have been through; rather, I want it to be measured by the things that have given me pleasure, regardless of how minor they may be.

I would want to be recognized for the manner in which I have a passion for language. I hold dear to my heart the ones that I have written, the ones that I have read, and the ones that I have read because they once meant something to me. I want to be characterized by the poetry that is inside me, by the tales that I have eaten, and by the lines that have molded my very being. I want to be remembered for my inexhaustible passion for language and for my conviction that words can heal, that they can transport people home, and that they can convert even the most traumatic events into something beautiful.

I want to be recognized for my love of music. The way some songs make my heart hurt in the greatest way, the way melodies seem like memories, the way lyrics may carry feelings that I don’t know how to articulate. A person who always has a song for every circumstance, who believes in the magic of a perfect playlist, and who finds solace in the way that a single note can alter everything is the kind of person I want to be.

I want to be known for the love I give, not only the love I have lost. I want to be recognized for the way I care too deeply, even when it hurts, for the way I show up for others even when I don’t know how to show up for myself. I want to be identified by my compassion, by my belief in second chances, and by the way I choose to love even when the world has given me every reason to be bitter.

I want to be recognized for my passion for the simple things. I want to be recognized for the way I shut my eyes to feel the warmth of the sun, for the way I get delighted about the sky filled with stars and full moons, and for the way I gather little moments of bliss like they are rare jewels. I want people to think of me and remember the way I find comfort in the simplest things, such as the scent of coffee in the morning, the laughing of a friend, and the sense of holding a book I’ve been longing to read.

I truly don’t want my existence to be evaluated by my misery. Not even with my failings, my weaknesses, and the ways I don’t measure up. I don’t want to be a narrative of merely perseverance, as if overcoming suffering is my sole distinguishing attribute.

I want my life to be a narrative of passion, of astonishment, of love.

I want to be remembered not for the weight I have carried but for the light I have discovered despite it all.

I want to be someone who welcomes life with wide arms and who thinks that even in the middle of despair, there is something worth hanging on to.

I want to love profoundly, dream endlessly, and live in a manner that leaves traces of kindness wherever I go.

I want to look back and know that I decided to live completely, to seek beauty even in the mundane, to be soft even when the world attempted to harden me.

If I were to be remembered for anything, let it be for the way I kept my heart open despite everything.

Let me be defined by the things that I love.

I am the books, the music, the art, the sunsets, the stars, the ocean, the sky, the space, the moon, the laughing, the love, the hope I carry, the dreams I seek, the pieces I write, and the tales I tell.

Let them form me; let them become my legacy. For in the end, I don’t want to be a collection of scars. I want to be a masterpiece of love.

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