The studying continues. The last few months have been a study in endurance and standing in my truth, no matter what…on top of the straight up studying for the licensing exam. I’ll be honest, it’s been exhausting. There will be times in our lives that test the limits of our strength, that show us what we’re made of and what we truly value. Times that create a shift in our perspective and how we want to be in the world. These times will also force us to find new ways to cope, to stretch, to grow and so we should be grateful, which is always easier when you are standing on the other side of the storm. So for those of us still in the storm, remember to breathe. Take a moment for yourself. Check in with your heart. Listen to your soul, too; the deepest, truest part of yourself. You carry more wisdom than you know. You just need a moment of stillness to hear it. Take that moment, like your life depends on it. Yes, it’s that important. Quiet all the voices carrying the echoes of all the shoulds and have to’s. Ask yourself, what do I need, in this moment, to be___________. You fill in the blank. What does your heart need right now? To be at peace? Content? Happy? Brave? Strong? Listen. That answer is there too.
In the spirit of giving ourselves permission to take a moment to get back to our centers, mine always leads me back to words. I find writing calming and freeing and so anchoring, the truth that at any given moment I can choose to let it in and it’s always there. It’s like a little miracle, really. I can neglect it and ignore it and temporarily abandon it and yet, when I finally remember and open up that part of me, it’s like no time has passed at all. Joy and freedom. So, here are a couple of those moments. What does your heart and soul need to be free and joyful? What do they need right now?
How It Happened
As if he already knew
that life is made of glass
he set off across its surface
leaving a stronger voice to tear the fabric
around her heart. Her hand in his
to act like a guardian.
She stood in the doorway, wrapped in
what might have been.
–
She was too young to know
that when his ship struck
the fraud of his heart, he’d be late.
He’d begged on every corner for welcoming
words which had no meaning
except to hide the dead.
To everything there is a season, he preached,
Forgive the dark before the dawn.
–
If the truth were known
in the years between,
she went back to draw water
where there was none. There he stood,
a door carved with a language
only God remembers.
Opening at her presence, he called her name.
How could she resist?
——————————————————–
Life, As It’s Meant To Be Read
Truthfully, it is to himself
that each man tells his story.
Bowed by the last mystery,
we fear our limits as well as our lengths.
Only knowing one ending,
we don’t know we are happy,
just that we can’t go back.
–
So we live our truth, never
believing our stories
are torn jigsaw pieces placed
cruelly as well as mercifully
where the fire burns the slowest.
The last page left to be read
by the voice we’ve ignored.
–
We cannot know truth completely.
This last conviction,
frightening as well as comforting,
burns in every word
before it is formed. And yet,
settled in every naked soul
is an I love you that was true.
Live True To You 