Doré E. Frances
Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think
Beneath My Silence poems spanning from 1965 to current
Do you ever catch yourself thinking that you are no one’s first choice –
not the favorite, not the one someone reaches for first –
just quietly present, lingering in the background?
And in that moment, you feel the pull to retreat –
not out of anger, but out of a quiet ache, a longing to be alone where it feels safer than feeling invisible.
The most brutal lesson adulthood has taught me is the relentless demand to keep going – even when I feel shattered inside. It doesn’t matter if I am grieving, exhausted, or barely holding on. Life doesn’t pause for sorrow or fatigue.
It charges ahead, unmoved by heartaches.
And so, I follow –
because I have to.
Even when everything in me begs for stillness. What’s even harder, though, is realizing how unprepared we are for this truth. We grow up believing in the promise of happy endings, only to find that survival often means putting on a brave face when we are anything but okay. And maybe that’s the hardest part:
not just surviving, but doing it silently –
carrying the weight with no visible cracks. […]
Fear and the Law of Attraction
Be mindful of what you fear ~
because fear has a magnetic quality. When we focus intensely on what we don’t want to happen, we may actually be drawing it toward us. The mind is powerful.
The more we obsess over worst-case scenarios ~
accidents, health concerns, rejection, loss ~
the more we energize those possibilities.
Fear doesn’t just cloud our thoughts; it shapes our reality.
Obsessive fear can lock us into a loop of anxiety and even manifest the very outcomes we’re trying to avoid.
This doesn’t mean we ignore risks. A wise elder, for […]
From Disconnection to Awakening: A Culture in Transition
We shifted from courtesy to defense ~ from “excuse me” to “get out of my way.”
From “how can I help?” to “what’s in it for me?”
We stopped worrying about how we were perceived ~
and started caring even less about each other. They were fake. We were just being “authentic.”
The collective became the individual. Friendships turned into strategic alliances. Community fragmented into tribes. Engagement became a kind of currency. When we weren’t heard, we shouted louder ~
or silenced others to make space for our noise. Anyone outside our circle became a threat. Uniformity was applauded ~ loudly, constantly. We wore […]
“You handled it so well.”
No ~ I disappeared inside myself. I lost my light, broke in places no one could see, and smiled like nothing was wrong. That wasn’t strength. That was survival dressed as grace.
Your suffering isn’t caused by the person you’re blaming. Blame feels easy ~ it gives pain a target and momentarily soothes confusion. But it never sets you free. Instead, it traps you in the cycle of waiting ~
for apologies, for validation, for change that might never come.
The truth is, pain often begins with someone else ~
but suffering continues because of how we carry the pain. The mind creates stories. It assigns fault, replays moments, and ties identity to wounds. But each time we hand blame to someone else, we give away our power, too. Peace doesn’t arrive when others finally do the right thing.
It begins when we realize that our responses are our own.
Yes, people will hurt us. Yes, their choices […]
I never set out to be emotional. I just wanted to be understood. To be seen.
Not just the words I manage to say out loud ~
but the quiet weight I carry beneath the surface, the things I tuck away where no one looks. Some days it feels like people only hear what’s comfortable for them.
They offer smiles, polite nods …
but they don’t really listen. There are moments I feel completely unseen ~
like I am standing in the middle of a storm, no one notices. And still, I smile. Still, I pretend. Even when I’m unraveling inside, clinging to what little strength I have left. It’s not about needing attention. It’s about longing for presence. For someone to ask,
“How are you […]
One day, you’ll come to understand that happiness isn’t found in the appearance of your home but in the love that lives within it. It’s not about reaching a milestone or chasing success but about losing track of time in something that brings your soul to life. True joy isn’t measured by applause or approval, but by the quiet contentment of waking up in your own skin, greeting the day with calm anticipation ~
no matter what it holds. Happiness isn’t about having the finest things but about finding beauty in what you already have. It’s making peace with what is and offering your best, even when the path is uneven. It’s not the absence of struggle or the solving of […]