We are all broken people living in a broken world. We hide our suffering or sometimes dramatize it by hurting our loved ones but try to keep hiding it from the world.

Society is not worth our time because it is where we hide our brokenness and put on a happy face.

We have tried every possible method to become better people than we are. And nothing ever changes. Our faults are our faults and everybody can see them. Vernon Howard urged us to give up.

I have left society and do not miss it at all. My broken heart is happiest here online with congenial people who want the truth above all else. With people drowning and clinging to their own piece of wreckage, as Leonard Cohen put it.

My essays form within me as I type them, but typing is becoming harder. My voice is weaker as well. And the holidays, don’t get me started.

I just want you to know that you are not alone and you don’t have to pretend in the effort to get love from people who are just as broken as you are.

Love is love is love is love.

And love is what binds the wounds and heals the aching heart. This love of which I speak is found by going within and listening to the silence. I do it on and off throughout the day.

Vicki is a broken-down heap who can still manage to hear the truth coming from her very own heart. And it says, “Peace, be still.”

Vicki Woodyard