The Beauty In Our Cracks

What happens when water gets into a crack and it freezes?  It expands and the crack gets bigger.  Have you ever thought of your past hurts as cracks?  Or rather, bruised or broken?  What happens to your cracks when you get hurt?

I recently read Just for Summer by Abby Jimenez. On the surface, it’s a light, feel-good rom-com—an easy, enjoyable read. What surprised me, though, was the depth tucked inside its pages. There were small moments of insight that lingered with me long after I closed the book. Insights that felt not only personal, but worth sharing.

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places.”
— Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (1929)

Past hurts have a way of sticking with us.  Even when we think we’ve dealt with them—resolved them, forgiven them, released them—they can still stick. They are tiny cracks that try to heal, but can easily be reopened. When the small stuff seeps in— with things that might roll right off easy with someone else—it settles into those spaces. Then, when life turns cold again with a new disappointment or hurt, those cracks expand. They grow deeper. Wider. Sometimes without us even realizing it. You may never notice how many cracks you carry until they’ve spread enough to affect the world around you.

However, we often spend much time trying to hide ourselves – all the wounds, the flaws, the insecurities, that we begin to put up a wall of protection – not allowing others ‘in’ in fear of reopening those old cracks.  

But these cracks don’t just affect us.

These cracks are like pressure cracks. Have you ever seen a lake where there are cracks that break apart and form back together creating a lip or a ‘scar’?  These scars are easily rebroken.  Any small hurt, annoyance, irritation, or deflating moment can break away that crack creating a territory of unknown waters.  If not careful, we can let those cracks spread wide and far and now, everyone around you is treading water just trying to keep their heads above in order to not create another crack in you.  

The truth is, everyone has cracks.  Everyone carries flaws and some form of emotional damage from their past. But those cracks do not disqualify you from being loved—or from loving someone else.  In fact, real closeness often begins when someone sees your cracks and doesn’t turn away.

Love isn’t about finding someone crack-free.
It’s about finding someone willing to meet you exactly where you are.

Maybe our cracks aren’t something to fear or hide after all. Maybe they’re the very places where connection, grace, and love are meant to enter.  Maybe this is where the beauty lies in ALL of us.  

So perhaps our goal shouldn’t be to erase our cracks or pretend they aren’t there, but rather to be honest about them and to learn more about them.  Having cracks doesn’t mean we are broken beyond repair – they are simply places where life may have pressed too hard.   It’s a gentle reminder that we have lived and that we are still standing strong and tall.  

So, stand strong and tall.  Embrace your cracks – they fill your soul with gold creating the beautiful person you are.  If you remember from a previous post – you don’t have to shine to be gold.  Be confident and happy with who you are because you are loved.  You are precious.  You are pure gold.