when we blame our parents for who we've become

sometimes when we are feeling broken

(especially for those of us who grew up with "broken" families)

we focus our sadness to generate blame

blame, for not giving us the home or love we needed as a kid

to allow us to become who we wanted to be

and we reach back so far

in this cycle of shame

until we step out of the shadow of our own mind

and appreciate that maybe we are not "broken"

and that the love we're looking for has always been possible from within

that we do not need to reach into the past to heal old wounds

we need only heal our present ones

the wound of a thought pattern

to feel whole

the feeling of broken-ness

only ever an illusion

that we believed was real