beat 289 - NEW

The story always starts with a boy. Perhaps he's tall, with an infectious curiosity for life which she's constantly reminded of when she searches his shaved head for that childhood scar. But maybe he's someone unknown, just a mystery man waiting to be met. He's walking the same streets, crossing the same strangers, not realizing he's ready for such an encounter. But the saddest is when the boy is one she's already been with but lost along the way. 

The story takes different paths every time it's told. Somehow the pain is always the same, a constant. The love though, the love grows into a larger lump lodged in her throat. 

What she knows is she's not alone. All girls start their stories with a boy. But what she might not know is most boys start their stories with a girl. We're all just walking this life together, we have love in common. All of us.

And so this project starts again, with my heart beat. A fresh heart for new chapter in life. I've been through it all: from lusts to faux loves to obsessions to an attachment so deep I thought our hugs would morph us into one and then sadly into bathroom floor sobbing praying for a miracle. But then, out of the blue, came a hummingbird paced heartbeat, from within my belly. A baby boy. And the world became scarier, the world became new, the world filled to the brim with a love I had never known before. 

My walls are finally coming down. It's a process. Somedays I build them high, wide and deeper than before but mostly I hop over the side with my arms open, my heart open, my mind ready for love. I'll never give up on love. Never. It moves me, shakes me, breathes with me. 

My heart, it's all about love. And I know I deserve to be loved the way I love. To be loved for me, to be loved long after my heart stops beating.

-Nicole Fasolino, NYC

art director, stylist, blogger, heart lover, author of this project