You are safe and loved.
I support you.
I will protect you.
It’s okay to feel sad, scared, or anxious.
It’s okay to say no.
I love you the way you are.
You are kind, smart, and funny.
You are important.
I am happy you are here.
This heart’s message
Category Archives: acceptance
Broken, and…
I came into this world far from perfect.
I came into this world, carrying a satchel of burdens, broken pieces, and suffering.
I came into this world to learn that whatever imperfections,
whatever brokenness,
whatever missing parts,
I am no less complete.
I am no less whole.
I am no less beautiful.
I am no less worthy.
I am no less valuable.
In fact, I am more striking,
more exceptional,
more capable,
more intriguing,
and more powerful,
as I embrace the contrast.
Unpacking the contents of the satchel,
I bravely weave together all the pieces with a thread of light and love that enjoys a lack of symmetry,
dances in the gaps,
Expands to fill the holes,
and revels in the spaces.
It is in the imperfections, the scars of journeys past, and the history that we carry,
That we remember the inner layers and the threads of who we truly are.
Unconditional
I am love and have the love and support of something greater within me.
I don’t need to settle on attachments that artificially promote my worth.
I was born worthy of placement in a world where I can be truthful, feel universal love, and never have to prove my value.
I am the embodiment of love and peace and joy.
I need not seek confirmation of that from anyone but me.
I can stand on my own.
I turn to my own heart for safety and reassurance.
I choose self-love over attachment.
I choose to love who I am more than anyone else ever should or can.
The deepest, truest love is the love I have for myself.
I remember. I choose.
No longer led by the illusion that I must earn love from others.
I turn to the unconditional love that I already am.
Eyes open, heart full
There is such magic in this world.
In the way my body carries me.
The movement of the wind as it caresses my cheek.
The coolness of the tears that release my tension and heaviness and fall as readily with joy as sorrow.
In the songs of the birds and insects busy with their work.
The smile of a loved one.
The deep knowing in the eyes of a child.
The way the earth holds onto me.
The playful dance of the ocean under the moon.
The squish of sand…mud…and grass between my toes.
The twinkle of the sun peeking through the forest leaves.
The wiggle and prance of unconditional love in a dog’s greeting.
The soul connection of a cat’s purr.
The goodness in the food I eat.
The nourishment and brain power in a sip of water.
The laughter of my children.
The echoes of love that I feel as unborn babies prepare to create more magic in this world.
The gifts are endless, seamless, and there for me even when I forget, become distracted, or look away.
The magic remains and returns again and again.
All I have to do is be still and it appears so clearly before and within me.
It’s really not magic at all.
What a beautiful thing to let love guide me and choose to see the good in the world today.
Weeping
How can something weeping be so beautiful?
Branches sinking towards the ground,
heavy with the promise of spring.
Blossoms like tears,
dripping from overflowing eyes.
Swaying soulfully in the wind, the blossoms sing a song not of loss but of rebirth.
These branches remind us to remain soft,
to bend and hang low,
to let life flow.
See the beauty and freshness that comes with letting go.
With the same courage that the tree has in these uncertain temperatures and conditions to bravely unfurl its blossoms,
weeping thoroughly,
signs of growth,
remind us of the beauty in letting our tears flow
for behind them comes a richness of life and growth
the likes of which have never been seen or felt before.
Rising from the Rubble
I had no idea that as I tore down the wall to rescue my abandoned self that I would nearly smother in the rubble.
Even when loss is experienced in a way that relieves abuse, abandonment and betrayal, the disruption it causes and the pain of breaking through the barriers to healing oneself are great.
And those who helped to build the wall, who reveled in the obstructing and ostracizing of that true self, walk away unphased by the devastation left behind. They go on to build thicker walls around themselves and others.
While their departure ensures the wall they left behind is not reinforced, it hurts that they do nothing to help remove the heavy stones, broken shards, and pieces of what they worked so relentlessly to build.
That burden rests on the shoulders of the self behind the wall. One by one the stones are slid aside. The dust settles. The light starts to shine through the piles and pieces as the opening grows wider and wider.
The power in seeing that self emerge, pale and weak at first – labored breathing, heavy and slow moving, still patiently and methodically forging ahead and finding its way – is so sweet to witness…even in its efforting.
That self digging out from the rubble need not feel animosity, anger, or resentment. No, that self is not needing to be rescued.
That self is triumphing in the freedom of self-acknowledgment, self-care, and self-worth.
Much of the power in healing comes from the self not needing to be rescued. The power is in putting aside the rubble and freeing oneself.
Self-Care Plan
Ease in movement
Confidence in heart
Peace in spirit
Clarity in thought
Patience in receiving
Kindness in expression
Assurance in being
Joy in doing
Stillness in action
Flourishing intuition
Thriving in grace
Abundant in gratitude
Living in love
Free Will, Free Me
When I am afraid, I just need to pause.
When I am tired, I just need to soften.
When in doubt, I open my hands and stretch my fingers to let go of the burdens I am carrying.
It’s time to release the bags full of insecurity, judgment, and uncertainty,
to relieve that heavy weight off my shoulders,
unlock my hips, knees and feet
and walk confidently into the less than clear,
the less than perfect,
the unknown.
I will be patient with myself and with others.
In that patience I will grow confidence.
I will seek compassionate words that promote truth to foster ease, healing, and happiness in myself and others.
I will not need approval,
and in fact,
I will revel in my stumbling.
I will cultivate pauses to inquire,
and to see the unknown
not as daunting,
but as freeing.
The only thing I will hold onto
is the hand of the little child within me.
Seeking love and assurance from within,
I will open my hands, spread my fingers and let everything else go.
I will no longer grasp limitations that hinder my ability to see and be grateful,
that mask the abundance before me,
the joy within me,
my capacity for unconditional peace and love,
and my ability to know in the unknown.
Compass Rose
To the north I find the earth and sky.
The east brings new beginnings.
The west lowers the veil of transition, the mark of endings.
It is in the south where I meet my soul.
We sit and watch the rising and setting sun cast against the earth and sky over and over again.
Humbly and joyfully admiring the ever changing landscape of transitions, the beauty in the unknown as it takes shape each dawn and dusk, and the vast expanse of opportunity in between.
Cultivating the smile within
In each moment
there exists a small space
of contentment.
It is our work
to come back to this space,
again,
and
again,
and
again
and
again
until with every moment
our first feeling
is one of contentment.
Monday Mindfulness 