Doré E. Frances
Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think
What happens when you need and want to tell the truth about things you can’t quite remember? These blog posts document my many attempts to remember and to tell the truth.
What’s behind many survivors isn’t always strength – but exhaustion. The kind that comes from holding it together alone, in a world that never made space for their pain, never offered a safe place to breathe or fall apart.
Quick—what pops into your head when you hear Woodstock? Peace signs and flower crowns? Psychedelics and guitar solos? Or a sea of beautiful souls living in harmony?
That silver-haired pair behind you at the grocery store?
They once stood under rain-soaked skies, wrapped in music and revolution at Woodstock.
Woodstock changed me in ways I never expected—and though running away to get there was bold, it was worth every step.
After three days steeped in peace, love, and music, the shift back to reality was jarring. The warm chaos of Woodstock faded fast as I stepped through the door and was met with two disapproving faces—no flower crowns, just cold stares. My father told me he was disappointed. My stepmother […]
If I could offer you just one piece of advice to carry with you, it would be this: cherish the moments – every single one –
with the people, places, and things you love. Because everything has a final time, and more often than not, we don’t realize we are living a “last” until it’s already passed.
The last sunrise you’ll ever see. The last time you taste your favorite dessert. The last time you walk through a familiar doorway, hold your pet close, or hear a loved one ‘s voice. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to know when it’s the end –
and we get the chance to soak it in. But more often, the goodbye is silent and slips by unnoticed. So […]
When we want less stress, less anger and fear, and fewer moments of disappointment, we need to loosen the grip of our expectations—they often create the very suffering we seek to avoid.
Life doesn’t always bend to our preferences.
Whether it’s traffic, people, or weather, frustration often arises not from the situation, but from the belief that it should have gone differently.
Releasing those expectations can make room for peace. When we release the grip of expectation, we allow life to unfold more gently.
A dull movie, a missed win, or a love that changes shape hurt less when we’re not holding tight to how it should have been.
Even small things—like the color of an avocado or the silence of […]
In Loving Memory of Those Gone Too Soon
We carry you in our hearts – in the quiet moments of dawn, in the stillness of the night, beneath starlit skies. You return in a melody, a familiar scent, a place that once held laughter. Though you are no longer here, you are never truly gone.
You are woven into everything.
I still hold on to hope. To the quiet strength of generosity. To the idea that kindness outlasts cruelty. That true power lies not in force –
but in grace. I believe a gentle word can soften anger. That tenderness holds its own quiet courage. And that we are so much more than what the world can see. Joy, I believe, is found not in things –
but in peace. And the simple acts of giving, without fanfare or reward, bring me peace. I believe love endures.
And no matter what storms may come –
I still believe.
Something Broke Inside Me
It didn’t end my story, however, it rewrote the lines. A silent fracture, etched in time. I walked away – still breathing, yet changed in ways unseen. A quiet ache replaced the light of all I might have been.
That moment stole a piece of me, left hollow where hope had lived. Now I move with unseen sorrow, with nothing more to give. I survived –
yet not untouched. I live –
yet not the same. A stillness lingers in my chest, a whisper wrapped in pain. No one sees the loss I bear –
a scar the world can’t find. Yet I remember …
when something broke deep inside.
It’s a strange thing – how someone can be woven into your daily life for what feels like forever, and then suddenly, they’re not. Maybe it ended quietly, maybe it fell apart. Either way, the absence is real, and the chnage is jarring. You might still carry unanswered questions. You might still hurt.
And that’s okay. Heartache doesn’t follow a schedule. The memories don’t just fade on command. They linger –
in songs, in places, in ordinary moments that unexpectedly bring that person rushing back to your mind.
They were part of your story …
and no matter how it ended, they mattered. But here’s what’s also true:
not all people are meant to stay. Some enter our lives to teach us, challenge us, love […]