Cut New Teeth

There is no fairy to soften the edge of transition.

I originally wrote this in August of 2025, while sitting with the uncertainty of shedding an old identity. That feeling just before a real change, when something has already loosened but hasn’t yet let go. We call it fear or resistance. But maybe it’s older than that? Maybe it’s the same ancient hesitation we felt as children, running our tongues across a tender gap in our mouths, wondering what we were about to become.

Fear is such a reductive term for being in the midst of actual loss. Eventually, I came to understand: if I embraced the loss, something new would arrive, stronger, sharper, more equipped for the next chapter.

There is no fairy for this. No coin for courage, no myth to soften the edge of transition. There is only you, ego, soul, and body slowly coming into agreement. The discomfort isn’t a sign that something is wrong. It’s a sign that something is happening.

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Cut New Teeth

We evolve in milestones.
Some are loud, announced.
A change in height
or the shape of a face.
A new car. A new spouse.

Others arrive quietly,
a small gap in the mouth,
a space where something was.

We invent fairies to guard the loss:
a coin for courage,
a myth for fear.

Teeth return.
Bigger. Sharper.
Strong enough
for the next chapter of your life.

Then why are we so afraid
to cut new teeth?

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