Fresh water mixes with salt.
The gateway brackish,
murky,
churning.
Swimming against the angry currents of
struggle,
despair,
and loss.
Riding the tides with
flexibility
and fortitude,
trust
and patience.
Constantly changing conditions stir hope and determination.
Survival requires adaptability.
Leaving the familiar marshes of the small, quiet stream
to swim in the wide open playground of the ocean.
This choice
a devotion.
This river of tears
leads to an ocean of joy.
My friend, we are not unicorns,
But dragons!
Full of fire.
Welling with generosity.
Sensitive to every tide
and shift of the barometer.
Fueled by passion.
Righteous in ancient tradition.
Bleeding tenderness and hope.
So sorely misunderstood
and under valued.
Especially when we love most deeply,
reveal our sensitive nature,
and suppress our power.
We submit to others
so that they can feel strong.
We are so powerful that we can suppress our very own needs,
to the point of falling ill and weak,
until inside us awakens the dragon heart
and we become so much love,
so much joy,
that the entire world lights up from our magnificence
and all doubt and judgment fades,
revealing our scales,
our scars,
and our wounds.
Stepping
proudly,
unapologetically,
fully
into our power.
Dark and heavy clouds fill the sky.
There is a moist, chilling feel in the air.
Worry, doubt, and greed swirl on the wind.
At the center of it all,
like an eye opening timidly from a long slumber,
a small space opens.
Unleashed absent effort,
unconditional,
unassuming,
extending unrestrainably outward,
an ancient healing balm,
a penetrating and permiating force,
stirs and
rises up.
It moves and shifts,
overcoming,
discerning,
dissolving,
and shifting.
Without seeking,
or striving,
it appears,
almost effervescently,
greeting all of the
anguish,
pain,
and
suffering
with gentle kindness,
patience,
humility,
and peace.
Love moves from within,
chosen
to be
seen,
felt,
and heard.
.
Curled up in a tiny ball,
breath pressing against muscles and bones heavy with the weight of not knowing.
The voice trying to find its footing,
wanting so desperately to be guided to its answers by the outside,
knowing it must dig deep and mine its own direction authentically from within.
In between each sigh,
a tear drops to the floor,
the only sign of motion
in this otherwise still
and down thrown body.
The simultaneous fullness
and emptiness
pulling at its core.
To be all
and
nothing.
Not afraid
to be afraid.
Be firm in your direction of travel,
humbled confidence as your guide.
With peace, kindness, and assuredness,
go forth.
Fulfill your dreams.
Don your most regal robes of passion and creativity.
Harness the flames of focus and determination.
Let the earth quake and rumble,
the skies fill with darkness,
and ride not into conflict and challenge as a battle,
but as an opportunity to demonstrate your
strength,
intelligence,
and fortitude.
Precariously perched on outstretched limbs of past experiences.
Formed of familiar coping mechanisms.
Unable to adapt to the changing conditions.
Heavy with the weight of others bearing down.
Recognizing the temporary nature of this existence.
One swift gust of wind.
One sudden yank from gravity.
All semblance of control,
all sense of purpose and being, melts away
in the free fall.
Crashing into the next newest version of self.
It’s exhausting,
this blooming all the time.
Extracting every nutrient from my veins,
drawing and expending all the energy from my roots.
In my weakest and most depleted state,
this is when I am celebrated and noticed most,
colorful, exotic, intricate, beautiful.
Please stop seeking and suggesting my flowering as a sign of my flourishing.
Please applaud me as I hibernate, drop my leaves, and recoil into my quiet greening.
Please see my faded and dying petals as a sign of my capacity to grow.
Allow me to impress you not by blossoming,
but by being.
What would happen if I unleashed my wild self?
The parts of me that move freely, wisely, and instinctively.
If I tore off the garments of social norms and constraints that subconsciously influence my thought patterns and actions?
What if I could be in control and uninhibited?
Harness my passions and balance discipline with fearlessness.
Could I harmoniously exist between the light of rationality and the darkness where my wild, latent parts reside?
Can I embrace and express the dual aspects within me of passion and wisdom, freedom and structure, consciousness and instinct?
In honing my adaptability, I find the courage to assert the authenticity of my multifaceted self,
To roam freely yet wisely under the moon,
To unleash the inner beast and utilize knowledge and intuition to fully experience life,
and for life to fully experience me.
Are the flowers each their own?
Are their petals each their own?
To whom do the seeds and leaves belong?
Do they come together to complete the plant?
Is the plant completing them?
Are the flowers extensions of the plant?
Could one survive without the other?
Each part grows uniquely,
in its own special way,
and still, they all contribute to something bigger.
Each part is invited to do their own work,
and to serve one another.
Each part seems separate
and yet only together
do they truly flourish.
Embrace this new beginning.
You are protected and guided by love.
There is no need to pretend to be something you are not.
Lay down the sword you hold against your own heart.
Be who you are.
Allow your memories to sing like sweet songs of triumph and strength,
Of your courage and vitality everlasting.
Have faith that what is yet to come will nourish and comfort your soul.
Move forward with humbled confidence,
A vigilant warrior armed with a quiver of compassion and sensitivity.
Find power, stability, and strength in the quiet and stillness of the winter,
Knowing that you are never truly alone,
And will forever and always be loved.
Monday Mindfulness 