Day 25: The Cracks Are Where the Reshaping Begins

The quiet power of repair

Let’s start with what people often call broken.

When you’ve lived through illness, trauma, grief, disability, or just the relentless weight of everyday life, people often look at you and see damage. Broken. As if you were once whole and now less-than.

But that’s not the truth.

We’re not broken.

Fractured? Yes. Unraveled, even? Sometimes. But never beyond mending.

And we don’t need something beyond humanity to “fix/repair” us. The power to reshape is already within us, in our choices, in our humanity, in our desire to move forward with what we’ve got.

"Some people call these 'cracks' broken. People see you as broken. But we're not broken, we’re a bit fractured, yes, but mendable. And through our desire to mend, we have the power to do just that: to rebind what fractured into something beautiful."

—Michelle Joy Brown

The cracks aren’t signs of failure. They’re evidence of growth. Of survival. Of stretching beyond what was expected or even thought possible.

We don’t return to who we were before.

We reshape.

We reimagine.

We rebuild gently, imperfectly, and honestly.

This isn’t about healing all at once. It’s about recognizing the quiet power of staying in the process.

Gentle Assignment:

Choose one fracture in your life, something that shifted you.

Ask yourself:

What changed after that experience?

How have you been reshaping since?

What strength or softness emerged as you began to mend?

Now: write about it, draw it, sit with it, or name it like a piece of art. You don’t have to share it with anyone. You don’t need to make it tidy or pretty. Just let it exist.

And if all you can do today is whisper to yourself, “I am not broken,” let that be more than enough.

Your Blossoming Art Friend 🌼

Michelle Joy Brown

Your financial support really does go towards helping this artist purchase supplies to continue painting and entering exhibitions as well as selling art. I'm a full-time artist now, all monies I earn supports my continued journey.

Thank you for your support and love. 🥰🥰

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