There was a time I used to think
the key to liberation
lay outside of me,
in someone else’s hands
waiting to be pleased.
Then one day, I looked inside,
and saw a familiar light
that greeted me as if no time had passed
in the ages since we’d met.
And I remembered then what I knew before:
If I could love myself
as I am right now,
then I might find freedom.
It was then I felt the force
of a lifetime’s worth of pain,
and a voice not heard since childhood
called out to me and asked,
“Isn’t anybody there?”
In that moment, through the tears, I remembered what is true:
If I could release
my bottled suffering,
then I might find peace.
I brought my hands up to my heart
and answered, “Yes! I am.”
That’s when I clearly felt
how afraid I was
to love this heart and touch this pain.
And I remembered why it hurts sometimes to breathe.
If I could hold my fears,
I thought,
as I hold my children,
then I might find ease.
I sat there for the longest time,
cradling my fears.
How I wished to stay that way,
in this swaddled solitude,
cocooned from the world.
Until I remembered what I’ve known since my very start:
If I could only see
how strong I really am,
then I might find courage.
With a shaking step,
onto the newly solid ground,
I vowed to find my own way out
and remember what I’d found:
That if I could distinguish
between outward and in,
real and fake,
past, present, future,
expansion and stretched too thin,
heart and ego,
love and fear,
then I might find truth.
This is the story of how I found
my way to this path and you,
and it’s here that I remind you
of the deep wisdom that you hold.
If you could learn by heart
the rhythm of your spirit,
the sound of your true voice,
and taste of your wildest dreams,
the color of your joy,
the feeling of your feet, rooted in the earth
and heart expanding into space,
then you may find your way back home
whenever you are lost,
whatever may arise,
and however far you stray.
Take a little moment for peace and love with the free 2-minute revitalizing meditation.
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