growing up

the antonym of easy
the symptoms hit me
and everything changed

I am still the same
but in some ways I am
different

this condition
it's chaos
complete and utter chaos
what started as rain
became a full-blown
hurricane

still I survived it

I began to see
shades of grey
in black and white

I began to appreciate
the smell of clean clothes
and homemade meals
the way that the
stars align
creators of music
artists
lazy Sunday afternoons
mutual exchanges with
random strangers
hand-written letters
books and
board games
quality time with
my brother
close friends
myself
my pets and

I found passion in

making photographs
stitching story lines and
stanzas together
studying psychology and
the brain

in both the little and the
not-so-little things
the simple and

the intricate
red, orange, yellow
green, purple, blue
and pink
I grew to see the

beauty in chaos 

and disorder