A Journey of Soul Discovery
Wildflower you inspire me
Your quiet colors chant your innocent vibrancy
Your unique shapes echo your fascinating complexity
Your fragile manner belies your inner strength to grow among weeds
Your natural beauty flows with the wind
Sculpting you into a soulful creation of the earth
So grow where you are planted.
Wildflower you inspire me
We can be neither evasive of the mystery nor invasive of the pain if we want to get through depression.
When we go through depression we must sit in its misery even when we long to run from its darkness.
The Greeks saw depression as a visitor who brought us a gift if we’re willing to entertain that visitor and not reject him or her.
Rejecting that visitor only makes him or her stay longer.
– dd 2010
not just from head to toe
but from the inside out too
Stay with the one who sees how hard you work
and loves you
who sees how deeply you love
fear and feel
and loves you
Stay with the one who sees the tangled knots of your heart and sits down with you
to untie them
and loves you
Stay with the one who pays attention to what lights you up
who would bring you the sun
just to watch your eyes revel
at the sight of the dawn
Stay with the one who sees you
as you creep into your shell
and loves you
stay with the one who sees you
blossom out of your shell
and loves you
Stay with the one who sees you grow quiet and
asks “how can I help?”
Stay with the one who sees your gaze
over the horizon and says “take me with you”
Stay with the one who sees you when you crash
burn yell and fight back
as you rebel for space
gives it and loves you
Stay with the one who sees you spin off and smiles
as you reach and grow and fly with your soul
and test your strength in strong waters
stay with the one who sees this
and reaches his roots deep into the earth
deep enough to ground you both
for he has flown too
knows that now it is your turn
and would never deny you the site
of your own life
as you dance with the wind
wings spread wide
Stay with the one who sees all your smile lines
and says “I love how they match mine”
Stay with the one who sees you
in the shower
in a top bun
with toothpaste on your chin
offers to wash your back
and loves you even more
Stay with the one who sees you
and loves you
until
and so that
you too
can see you
and love you.
AUTHOR: EMMA TAIT
I stand on the top of a mountain
On the edge of a granite ledge
And scream a deep, dark yowl into
The belly of the dark, moist ground
Releasing my seeds into the earth.
And I am man…I am proud…I am I.
I will not let my granite be smooth. It will remain rugged.
My fire will burn through water and carve out a rock hard soul
Gentle outside, but raging inside, slamming my fist against life’s hardened walls
Breaking through with passion and anger with edges sharp as razors
Grabbing opportunities like leafs in the air
Taking what is mine and claiming that I
Am a Man, hard and hairy
Tall with testosterone and scarred throughout from war
Art by Murakami Tsuji
Don’t surrender your loneliness
so quickly.
Let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you
As few human
Or even divine ingredients can.
Something missing in my heart tonight has made my eyes so soft, my voice so tender
My need for God so much clearer
My beautiful sister
You knew me so well
And still you loved me
Two souls traveling a path together for a short time in our younger days
You seeing me, I seeing you
And we loved each other
A gift to my life
A gift to my soul
With your gentle love seeing me
You loved me perfectly
You rejoiced in my presence for some reason
And I bathed in your precious love
Your quietness, your gentleness and kindness
Told me that i was enough in just who I am
I miss you my precious sister
And rejoice that you are still a part of me
Friendship, what is it?
It’s speaking the truth with another
And accepting each other’s truth as real for them
Friendship, what is it?
It’s exposing our secrets to that person
And they hold them as sacred as if they’re their own
Friendship, what is it?
It’s exposing your wounds to them which they celebrate as an opportunity for more closeness
And they honor your pain as a chance to know you better
Friendship, what is it?
It’s looking at how you have hurt them
And feeling deeply sad that you did
And doing all you can do to help heal them from your hurt
And holding them as they weep
Friendship, what is it?
It’s being imperfectly and authentically human together
And them loving you and you them, despite those imperfections
And somehow each of you falling in love with the other, still
How did i hurt you?
Tell me…
…. and I will listen
Once, I ran from fear
so fear controlled me.
Until I learned to hold fear like a newborn.
Listen to it, but not give in.
Honour it, but not worship it.
Fear could not stop me anymore.
I walked with courage into the storm.
I still have fear,
but it does not have me.
Once, I was ashamed of who I was.
I invited shame into my heart.
I let it burn.
It told me, “I am only trying
to protect your vulnerability”.
I thanked shame dearly,
and stepped into life anyway,
unashamed, with shame as a lover.
Once, I had great sadness
buried deep inside.
I invited it to come out and play.
I wept oceans. My tear ducts ran dry.
And I found joy right there.
Right at the core of my sorrow.
It was heartbreak that taught me how to love.
Once, I had anxiety.
A mind that wouldn’t stop.
Thoughts that wouldn’t be silent.
So I stopped trying to silence them.
And I dropped out of the mind,
and into the Earth.
Into the mud.
Where I was held strong
like a tree, unshakeable, safe.
Once, anger burned in the depths.
I called anger into the light of myself.
I felt its shocking power.
I let my heart pound and my blood boil.
Listened to it, finally.
And it screamed, “Respect yourself fiercely now!”.
“Speak your truth with passion!”.
“Say no when you mean no!”.
“Walk your path with courage!”.
“Let no one speak for you!”
Anger became an honest friend.
A truthful guide.
A beautiful wild child.
Once, loneliness cut deep.
I tried to distract and numb myself.
Ran to people and places and things.
Even pretended I was “happy”.
But soon I could not run anymore.
And I tumbled into the heart of loneliness.
And I died and was reborn
into an exquisite solitude and stillness.
That connected me to all things.
So I was not lonely, but alone with All Life.
My heart One with all other hearts.
Once, I ran from difficult feelings.
Now, they are my advisors, confidants, friends,
and they all have a home in me,
and they all belong and have dignity.
I am sensitive, soft, fragile,
my arms wrapped around all my inner children.
And in my sensitivity, power.
In my fragility, an unshakeable Presence.
In the depths of my wounds,
in what I had named “darkness”,
I found a blazing Light
that guides me now in battle.
I became a warrior
when I turned towards myself.
And started listening.
Jeff Foster
the wind has carved
me from a stone
hollowed me
like a reed
so I sleep
on cedar boughs
watch
the northern lights
I am powerless
there is only now
no push
no resistance
this living sutra
beauty is in simple things
beyond my control
far from the world
but in it
I do not know
if I am human
or I am the wind singing
or Jonah
inside the blue whale