Begin Again

By Julie Khristie

"""Have you ever wished for a time machine to carry you back into your past and alter specific moments that you believe would have changed the course of your life in the present and the future? But sadly, life does not work out that way. We bring with us our past wherever we go, and often we let who we were dictate the person who we will become.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ukiyoto Publishing
• Release date: Jan 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9789360494759

Book preview

BEGIN AGAIN

A Love Letter to You

Julie Khristie

Ukiyoto Publishing

All global publishing rights are held by

Ukiyoto Publishing

Published in 2022

Content Copyright © Julie Khristie

ISBN

Cover Design © Hershelle Carmen

Illustrations © Isobel Esther Sobrino

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated, without the publisher’s prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

Dedication

For Hershelle Carmen of shelliegraphy who graciously did the cover, I appreciate the beauty within you that seems to shine through your beautiful artworks.

For Isobel Sobrino who did the illustrations, you are growing up to be the artist I admire. I am a fan.

For Rachel who tirelessly roots for my dreams to become a reality, your friendship is beyond compare.

For Justice, Amir and Eulo, you are the stars I lovingly keep in my pocket.

For my family, you are both a challenge and an inspiration.

For God, who makes me become more than how I see myself, my heart is left forever wanting more of You.

For you who yielded swords and came out scathed,

It is possible, right?

To lose so much of myself from wounds

and live as though I am still complete?

I want to tell you, YES, it is possible.

Contents

Introduction                               1

Dear You Who Often Forget That You Are Beautiful

Dear You Who Have Yet to Forgive Yourself

Dear You Who Have Been Suffering Quietly

Dear You Who Keep on Breaking

Dear You Who Have Yet to be Loved Deeply

Dear You Who Have Been Left Behind

Dear You Who Get Tired of Waiting

Dear You Who is Always on the Giving End

Dear You Who Have Yet To Heal

Dear Exhausted Woman Trying to Live Each Day at a Time

Your One Day Begins Now

Dear Self, How Do I Begin Again?

The Eyes That See You Should Be Yours Alone

Leave The Past Where It Should Be Left Off

Begin Dreaming Again

Begin Building

Be Brave Enough to Love Yourself

What Makes Your Heart Glow?

Look for Your Place

The Right People Will Always Respect Your Preferences

Give Yourself an Avenue to Bloom

Do Not Forget to Congratulate Yourself Every Day

No Matter Where You Are, You Have Made It Far

How Do You Know When You Have Finally Become?

Dear Self of Seven Years Ago

Cheers to Beautiful New Beginnings!

About the Author

INTRODUCTION

Scars are not injuries, Tanner Sack. A scar is a healing. After injury, a scar is what makes you whole.

― China Miéville, The Scar

Have you ever been so fixated by your scars that you fail to discern that you are no longer the person from your past?

Let me tell you the story about the Rag Doll Princess.

Once there was a rag doll who lived with her parents and two older sisters in a large house near the lake. When she was a toddler, her caretaker accidentally bumped her head into the wall and it bled and required several stitches to close the wound. From where the wound was, grew a big scar that her mother would diligently cover with a satin bandanna under a hat when she would dress her up each morning.

Growing up, she would hear her neighbors praised her sisters for their beauty. And she would sit in one corner incognito while people gawked at her sisters with admiring eyes.

Why are her sisters much, much prettier than she is? She wondered with her eyes wide awake at night while her sisters lay fast asleep in rooms next to hers. She would admire how their long, flowing tresses cascaded like a lovely stream down their shoulders. She would touch the scar through her bandanna and grimaced. If only she can be as pretty as them. And she would note how their noses seemed more pointed, how their lips were exquisitely defined and how their long slender legs brought elegance to their delicately shaped bodies. She would look inside their closets and admire their dresses while she abhorred her own. Oh, how she felt so ugly beside them!

The rag doll felt so