# Demarking

## The Everyday Marks

We go through life collecting marks. A frown line from worry. A label from work: manager, failure, expert. Scratches on the heart from old hurts. These are not just lines on skin or paper—they shape how we move, how we see others. On a quiet morning in early 2026, I traced one on my hand, a faint scar from a forgotten fall. It held a story I no longer needed.

## Choosing to Erase

Demarking starts small. Wipe the smudges from a window to let light in. Forgive a slight and watch tension fade. It's not forgetting, but releasing grip. No grand rituals—just breath, time, a soft cloth on glass. 

Simple ways emerge:
- Pause before labeling a stranger.
- Trace the mark, then let your hand fall.
- Meet someone new as blank paper.

In this, boundaries soften. What was rigid becomes open.

## The Space Left Behind

Without marks, something vast appears. Not empty, but full of possibility. Faces look kinder without our judgments. Our own steps feel lighter. Demarking reveals we were never the lines—we are the page beneath, ready for what comes next.

*In demarking, we find not less, but more room to simply be.*