Storyteller: 100 Poem Letters

by Morgan Harper Nichols

Tell the story of the mountain you climbed. Your words could become a page in someone else’s survival guide.

When you start to feel like things should have been better this year, remember the mountains and valleys that got you here. They are not accidents, and those moments weren’t in vain. You are not the same.

it is all in this journey you will learn to be strong. And to get where you are headed, you are where you belong.

In the wind the tree will bend, in the wind the branch will shake, but in the end, the deeply rooted will be too strong to break.

Let this be your farewell, a story you can tell of just how far you've come and how much more there is to go.

You will grow even in this wasteland.

And if everything does not fall into place at the same time and pace, that does not mean the years you’ve waited have somehow been a waste. Keep planting, sowing, living, and knowing beautiful things take time… and that’s okay.

I do not know why some plants grow in the sun, and some in the shadows but I do know they still grow.

But dearest friend, don’t be weary here.

No matter the things that have happened this year, by grace there is still a reason you’re here.

We know there is only so far we can go unless we are willing to faithfully face what we do not yet know.

You reap what you sow. So sow well. Sow seeds of faith over seeds of doubt. Sow seeds of peace over seeds of worry. Sow seeds of love over seeds of fear. And if in the past, you sowed what you did not need, there is nothing that says you must keep watering those things. Leave them alone. Let them die. Make room to only sow things that bring life.

For the friend waiting for answers: There is a time for everything, under the sun, a time for everything. So let Ecclesiastes sing in the middle of the night, in the wild in the cold in the back of your mind: to you, my friend, for all of time there will be a time for everything.

No matter the darkness that runs the heart to the ground, grace continually persists and abounds.

This year will not end like last year at all. You have learned to be free. You have learned to be strong. You have held onto light when the night was too long. You have braved many fears. You learned a new song, and through all of these valleys you have learned to stand tall. This year will not end like last year at all.

Slow down. There is no need to rush. Take delight in these days a minute at a time. All of this a part of the process of who you are becoming.

Even here, I hope you will wake up tomorrow morning and unwrap each breath like the gift it is, and let no amount of worry take one breath away.

going through things you never thought you'd go through will only take you places you never thought you'd get to.

When you stumble on old vices you are free to leave them there, for not everything that rises is worthy of your care.

Take deep breaths and take your time for this mountain here you will learn to climb. You will learn to brave these all new heights, you will grow in grace, you will be alright. You will learn to see the world from here: a thousand miles above your fears.

See the setting sun turning barren lands into rows of endless yellow that now has you thinking, maybe the change of a season is more than sorrow, but a leap, a promise for hope tomorrow.

Walk, talk, smell, see until you forget sometimes to take a photograph or to write it down because you were just too busy living.

We don’t have to know everything to know that taking brave and faithful steps will lead us where we belong.

After all this time She is learning to see, she is so much stronger than she thought she would be.

For the nineteen year old who doesn't know what to do after her plans have fallen through, in autumn: More than you see the way things haven't worked out, more than you see the unwritten page of the chapter you are anxious to complete, see all around you the change that is happening. See the way the leaves color and burn and the many things in this season you are going to learn, because just as there are a hundred unread the books on the shelf there are one hundred things you do not yet know about yourself. And that is okay. In fact, it is supposed to be that way. This is change. And it is a beautiful thing. You are still growing, into who you are meant to be.

And just like that, you will carry on. Even when you were overlooked and profoundly underestimated. By grace, with strength, you will carry on.

Because if nothing else, darkness taught you: grace was the fire burning wild and unbridled in your tired heart.

Because sometimes it’s just these candid conversations in faithful morning light that remind us we are not alone and we are going to be alright.

Breathe deep in newfound hope, and be forever changed. For Light has found Its way to you, and you will never be the same.

More than she was known for her accomplishments, she was known for the way she loved.

to think a billion thoughts while at the same time speechless.

Even if the wait carries on another year, I will not get where I am going without first learning to be here.

She will not worry, she will be just fine. She will brave the new season one day at a time.

For the girl driving home late at night: When there are street lamps and headlights guiding you home and you’re tired and weary of being alone, breathe deep and hold on and do not let go just yet. For even though it’s late and you do not know how much longer you can wait, how much more you can take, keep your eyes on the road. Keep your eyes on the light. Carry on another day, carry on another night. You will make it through this. You will be alright. By grace, with light, you will be alright.

Because many years from now, these days will still matter. They will each have a chapter in the stories you gather.

"I do not know why things turned out this way, but I do know I now have something to say."

For “Rachel,” the girl who has never known romantic love: The same exact Light that shines on the one who is falling in love, who is getting engaged, who is walking down the aisle on her wedding day,⠀ the same exact Light shines on you all the same.

Traveling the world is not limited to open roads and airport codes. There's a world inside the bounds of books far too often overlooked. Your library card is a passport too.

A bit like childhood all over again. And you will find the time to read this book, forget all the troubles, and somehow be changed all over again.

Maybe if you had been different, you would have been what they wanted. But maybe if you have been what they wanted, you would have been different than who you were supposed to be.

For even though you do not feel as strong as you used to be you are finding hope, for this new season is exactly what you need.

Don’t do what you do to prove them wrong. Do what you do for The One who has always been there all along.

Who am I to think I have anything figured out at all, when you can sleep so peacefully on a stairwell in a street.

On the days we are fine, at least one of our neighbors is not. It can be easy to dismiss the necessity of a kind word when we are not the one in need. But the reality is this: there are people roaming the city who have not been loved in years. There are people roaming the city who have not been loved in years.

The chaos of the day caused her to withdraw, and shut out the world. She was certain now she was empty, drained, and in her heart, she fell. But she did not fail, for when she fell, she fell into grace.

you are not a polished artifact on a shelf, but clay in the hands of the Potter Himself,

You are the Hallelujah beating through my broken, weary heart.

You will go through seasons of sun and wind and rain. You will tread the desert, and in and out of pain. You will go through years wondering if you’re good enough. But you will never go too far that you are outside of My Love. Morgan Harper Nichols ...and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world – Matthew 28:20 KJV