What If Heaven Is a Place on Earth?

What if it's here now: artistic, queer, alive, and free?

I was flipping through my old notebooks and journals this evening, and I stumbled across a short bit of writing I did for a prompt in a workshop I took last summer. The prompt was this:

What I should’ve said was…

Which is a fantastic writing prompt; one I’ve done a few times and it always produces really interesting writing. I wanted to share what I wrote here, because reading it back, it shook me. It made me think. And maybe it’ll make you think too.

What I should’ve said was this is my life. I can live it how I want to. I want to be a writer — or an artist! And maybe it doesn’t fit into the box that you want me to stay in, where I’m safe and careful, but out there it’s free and queer and complex and beautiful.

And can you really say you’re happy? Do you live your heart’s desire?

What if we can have exactly what we want? What if beyond the safety of the white picket fence is a masterpiece, an extraordinary life, filled with art and thought and living? What if the white picket fence encapsulates you in hell on earth so you have to believe in heaven?

What if heaven on earth is already here, beyond those walls?

It’s here. It’s queer, it’s colorful, and risky and artistic. And yeah, it’s uncertain; it strays from the status quo, but it’s real. It’s real.

Maybe give it one try and if the world implodes then okay, you were right. But how can I sit back when heaven on earth could be here right now?

I can’t.

Nine months after writing this, I’m starting to wonder if maybe heaven is here. Heaven and hell, all around us, and we just have to choose which we allow to direct our lives. The world is hard enough. There are so many things I can’t control. So if there’s one thing I can control, it’s choosing joy, creating heaven on earth in my life, living in accordance with my truest self and deepest desires. Because if I can do that, I reflect that goodness back on the world.

Thank you for reading The Mood Board! It means so much to me that you are here, and I hope you found bits of inspiration here today. Say hi on Instagram here, shop my faves here, and read my other writing here. And if you want to buy me a coffee, you can do that here. :)