When Hearts Break Like Waves

Redefinition

when I say my heart breaks
I mean it breaks like a wave—
as if exhausted
by its own separateness
it gives itself back to the whole

– Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

When Hearts Break Like Waves

Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer invites us to reimagine heartbreak not as shattering, but as surrender—a wave exhausted by its separateness finally returning to the ocean from which it came. A subtle shift that change everything.

When we find ourselves caught in the tension between pain and belonging, we might recall that moment of melting into an unconditional embrace. Not the kind that dismisses our suffering, but the kind that creates a wider container for it. The hug that says: you don’t have to carry this alone. In that sacred space, what felt like impending collapse becomes instead a rejoining—the small tributary of our individual pain flowing back into a larger river that can hold it all.

This return to wholeness doesn’t erase our challenges. Rather, it illuminates what becomes possible when we remember our connection. Between the inhale of being truly seen and the exhale of seeing others clearly lies our most profound human capacity: to care deeply and to express that care through presence.

Perhaps today we might turn toward those who remind us we were never truly separate, while extending that same dissolving embrace to someone who needs to remember they belong.

In appreciation,

Ashley

This journal post is excerpted from my April 2025 Full Moon Newsletter. Interested in receiving resources and announcements directly in your inbox? You can SIGN UP HERE. Newsletters follow the lunar calendar – full moon newsletters feature simple, practical tools or a bit of seasonal inspiration while new moon newsletters share updates on upcoming offerings and community resources. 

You can find more of Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s writing on her website.