
When you bump up against something unfamiliar or uncomfortable,
it’s just a reminder of what you love.
Photo courtesy of Shari Irby.

When you bump up against something unfamiliar or uncomfortable,
it’s just a reminder of what you love.
Photo courtesy of Shari Irby.

It doesn’t matter how much power you have if you don’t allow it to burst out and serve you.
So many times I have used my power to suppress my own needs, my voice, my self-advocacy…all for the sake of “preserving the peace.” But, how can peace be preserved when a battle rages within me to suppress my own feelings and needs simply to avoid the risk of imploring you to revel in my power to know myself. Ah, yes, there is a chance that you will be wounded in the wake of my power, but that wound I can hold with much greater compassion than the devastation that comes from turning my power against myself.
My power transforms from exploding within to bright and shining rays of love and truth when authentically attuned. I begin to recognize that honesty is a demonstration of true prowess and the recognition of woundedness an opportunity to be powerful in kindness, forgiveness, and grace.
My power magnifies when I allow it to burst out and serve me, so much so that it can hold all of the discomfort, all of the woundedness, all of the needs and feelings — yours and mine – and in that outburst peace is preserved.

It’s a great gift we receive in every energetic exchange that we experience – the opportunity to…
absorb
utilize
diffuse
relegate
release
or give away
our power.
Feeling into your power or letting it go needs no special circumstances or conditions. It’s simply a choice.
Every time a choice…
Will I feel into my power
Or will I let it go?
Every time a choice.

White flowers
Dark textures
Straight lines
Soft edges
Living wholeness
Dried pieces
Flowing lines
Still emptiness
Warm touches
Cool feeling
Hope and breath
In the spaces
Photo courtesy of Susan Kerr.

Sometimes I just don’t realize the sheerness of the stories I wear.
How they seem to protect me and at the same time be filled with holes.
I wear them to create a sense of separateness, of control, and the ability to shield myself from others.
I can never truly hide from that connection. A part of me will always remain exposed.
Perhaps a part of me pokes out beyond the edge hoping to be seen so that I can come out from under the stories.
When the veil of story is pulled back authentic, vulnerable, unfiltered connectedness can begin.

I wonder if our paths as humans are designed not to run in a straight line but to zigzag like the paths of butterflies in flight.
Zigzagging might not be an obstacle, but may just give greater freedom to go wherever we are inspired to go and break free from the predictable.
Perhaps the path is intentionally zigzag so that when we’re not sure where we are going, we end up exactly where we are supposed to be.

How often I stand in this being of me, just not sure what I see.
Insecurity on the inside
Appears as rejection on the outside.
Longing for love and positive connections
Show up as judgment and disappointment from others.
Feelings of shame and inadequacy
Manifest as attacks of anger and disgust.
The stories build not on what is really surrounding me but in the distorted view I have of the reflections.
My experiences and relationships are like a hall of mirrors.
The distortion produces more distortion until the internal and external judgment and criticism becomes too great to bear.
And then, I let go of the differences, weaknesses, faults.
I soften the gaze.
I let the edges of everything blur.
And then I see it is all just me.
I become curious not about what I see in the endless reflections in the mirrors, but in the source of the projection.

I can choose to encounter my world through friction and tension…
Or synchronized and harmonious.
There is feedback and purpose in both.
Tuning to aversion or alignment as the compass points on my path,
I can either move towards what feels comfortable, favorable, and right
Or rub up against imbalance, back up, turn away and go around.
I can always choose resistance or resonance.

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.

Hope you stay open today to all the world out there has to offer you.
There are no wrong choices…even if you choose to be the object of pain or discomfort for yourself or someone else. There is a lesson in it all… a forward momentum.
Sense when to watch and when to leap. Don’t be afraid to feel – all of it. Know that it is all there for you to experiment with and none of it bigger than you…because it is there as a part of you.
Seek adventure curiously and joyfully…in your heart, in your mind, and in every action or inaction. Take on all that is out there in whatever way will grow and inspire you best.
Lift the blinds. Open the window.
Breathe it all in.
Now go live in it.