Before the Walls Fell 

Looking back, one of the most unexpectedly formative seasons of my life was my Grade 11 English class. It was designed to push us beyond simply reading books and answering questions. We were required to make textual connections: text to text, text to self, and text to world. For someone who naturally leaned toward text to self, it became a deeply reflective experience. 

Writing became an outlet allowing me to put pen to paper on experiences I had lived through but had never paused long enough to examine. It was a reflective exercise that helped give meaning to moments in my life, and once it was written, something shifted and something new began to take shape. 

The project itself was made up of four parts of my choosing: a poem, a newspaper style article, an academic research paper, and a piece of autofiction. Choosing a theme was the hardest part. I submitted multiple thesis statements, explored different directions, and kept being pushed to go deeper. Eventually, I landed on the theme of Walls, and what followed was an unplanned season of taking stock of my life. What started as an assignment became a mirror. Not complaining though, it earned me the equivalent of an A+. 

Each piece reflected what had been unfolding around me. I had left the home I had known and stepped into a new country, learning how to rebuild in a place with its own rules and rhythms. Being visibly different made me acutely self-aware, and in response, I built walls. Walls built layer by layer out of what felt like necessity. Walls that kept me safe and, at the same time, kept people at arm’s length. 

Looking back now, I see how quietly those walls formed in my mind and how quickly they became real. They were not physical structures, yet they shaped how I lived and how I withdrew. Isolation began to feel normal, even though it was never where God intended me to remain 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10 (NIV) 

The promised life of abundance was never meant to be a distant concept, as though Scripture speaks beautifully but remains impractical in the real world. The Word of God is not a lofty or outdated text reserved for the righteous few. The Word is living, evergreen, and deeply applicable. It speaks into real lives, real transitions, and real seasons and yet, I did not always walk fully in that truth. 

That realization came when I recently stumbled upon my multi-genre project. Reading through the collection made me cringe and reminisce at the same time, revealing how guarded I had been and how much the story had changed.

The path is now different, because that is what life is. A story still unfolding. 

As true believers, we walk this journey knowing the end is secure, even while the middle is still unfolding. 

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 (ESV) 

Mark the blameless and observe the upright. There is a happy ending ahead for those who live for peace.
Psalm 37:37 (TPT) 

What began as a reflection of a past season now stands as a testimony of change.

My story has not ended, and neither has yours. The Author of creation is still writing, still shaping, still calling us forward to learn, unlearn, and become with God. And so, the story continues. 

Read the Poem (1/4) of the multi-genre project here – Walls