Life gets messy. This may be the most clichéd understatement that you've ever heard, but it has to be said. Things fall apart. We lose people, we lose possessions, we question our very being at times. What are we doing? Why are we here, anyways?

(Hold on. You may be thinking this is too dramatically deep to be reading, but there is a point to this. I'm not just some random college student rambling about the philosophical questions that keep me up at night on the internet... oh wait.)

Life hurts. Things happen that rip your heart to shreds, or your loved ones' hearts to shreds while you're just forced to watch. The bitter truth is that no matter how hard we try — try to get the best grades, have the best relationships, do the best things — sometimes things don't go to plan. I'm a very Type-A person — my closet has been color coded since I was 9 years old, I have lists for my lists, and I need structure to feel secure. But here's a little nugget of unsolicited wisdom: life isn't always mine to structure. It isn't always up to me what happens to me or what happens to the people I care about. And all of the implications of this realization really suck. And hurt.

Messy is beautiful. Have you ever seen a Picasso in real life? A Pollock? So many artists have tapped into the truth that things that are harder to understand, harder to characterize, or harder to structure tend to be the things that more people are drawn to, for longer periods of time. (Granted, realism is a great art form and can be appreciated just as much, but for different reasons. But this isn't about art now, is it?). Unexpected things in life teach us so much more about who we are, what our values are, and who we want to become than the things that we plan, or want to plan. We would never reach our full potential if we were to live structured, harmonic, quiet lives.

Hurt brings resilience. It brings about strength. It brings so much joy. We would become stagnant people without depth if we were not to experience the joys of being hurt and broken. Prepare yourself for another clichéd, yet true, bomb of wisdom: without the night, there would be no morning. There is something so great about all of the bad things that we experience in life, because 1) they offer so many opportunities for growth, and 2) they mean that really, really great things can and will happen too. There is something to be said for allowing yourself to feel the deep, raw hurt and pain of life. I'm not trying to discount that at all. But once you reach the point where you can wipe those tears away, your smile has the potential to become the biggest, brightest one of them all.

So here's a reminder to let yourself feel the pain and the hurt, but hopefully appreciate it a little more. Chaotic circumstances don't have to be the reason you crumble. Try your best to remain content, and remember, you may not have control over what happens to you, but you can control how you respond — grow and thrive, my friends.

P.S. Don't forget to slay. Life may be messy, but it has the potential for so much beauty. And it's yours.