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Leslie Ralph

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Stories For Your Beautiful Heart

I Thought I Had Demons

May 27, 2019 By Leslie Ralph Leave a Comment

  I used to think there was something bad and broken in me. Some damaged bits hidden deep down, out of my reach.  They spoke to me, whispering riddles and sending me on impossible quests. They mocked my failure when I came back empty-handed.  Demons, I called them. Dragons, ghosts, skeletons, monsters.  I thought I…

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Filed Under: Lightness, Live Free, Poetry, Short Stories Tagged With: beautiful heart, Courage, Expansion, Healing, Lightness, Look Inside, self-love

Words for Waking Up

May 13, 2019 By Leslie Ralph Leave a Comment

red and pink abstract watercolor with text that reads my new story begins today, I will tell it through the words of love until the word reflects it back to me, then, I will tell it again

Awake, fresh eyes crack. It hurts for just a second as dawn’s light washes me. After a long, walking sleep, I’m relieved to see the sun again. “Felt like night forever,” I say to her with a bittersweet mix of thanks and regret. “Thank you for waking me.” The monsters lurking in my room transform before me….

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Filed Under: Lightness, Live Free, Poetry, Short Stories Tagged With: beautiful heart, Expansion, Healing, Lightness, Look Inside, Metamorphosis, self-love, Waking Up

Life’s always talking like that.

May 6, 2019 By Leslie Ralph Leave a Comment

I discovered a wildflower growing through a crack in the 3rd-floor landing. It’s baby blue face brought life to the concrete between the jewelry store and the ice cream shop. “What are you doing here?” I wanted to ask. But something in its easy stillness, the assuredness in its silence made me pause. It seemed…

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Filed Under: Lightness, Poetry, Story Tagged With: Life, Magic, nature, Short Story, Simple Lessons

What Lies Beyond These Walls

April 29, 2019 By Leslie Ralph Leave a Comment

I long to tell her, “Yes, yes. Come this way.” But it’s best she hears it from inside. – Love.From Love, Child. Love.  There are walls upon walls upon walls in me, and I’ll admit it, I built them myself. I laid them down, brick by brick with my own two hands.  I used to see…

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Filed Under: Expansion, Good Work, Lightness, Live Free, Love You, Words

Let us love the Earth today.

April 22, 2019 By Leslie Ralph Leave a Comment

Time with Mother Earth always leaves me feeling amazed and deeply grateful. Her sweet songs and scenes remind me of all I am a part of. I’ve confided in her many wandering paths and found my truest self hidden in acorns and sunsets. But it breaks my heart a little, too. I see the trash on…

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Filed Under: Good Work, Words Tagged With: Earth Day, giving back, good work, Love for Mother Earth

The Love That Sustains You

April 9, 2019 By Leslie Ralph Leave a Comment

Standing on the corner of a busy city street, a quarter caught his eye. He bent to pick it up as people rushed past. “Drums!” he exclaimed as he turned the quarter over and found a drummer boy standing in the eagle’s place. He pressed the quarter into his palm and smiled at a passerby. All…

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Filed Under: Grounding, Lightness, Live Happy, Short Stories, Words Tagged With: awe, beautiful heart, centered, giving thanks, gratitude, grounded, short stories

Where there was fear now stands love.

April 2, 2019 By Leslie Ralph Leave a Comment

I sat at the shore, watching the water come and go. Beside me sat a basket filled with bottles, each one containing a note about my past and my secrets. Something’s wrong with me, one said. It broke me, said another. I can’t forgive myself for it. No one can ever know. For years, I kept the…

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Filed Under: Expansion, Grounding, Lightness, Live Free, Live Happy, Love You, Short Stories, Words Tagged With: healing stories, letting go, new beginnings, self-compassion, self-love, short stories, stories for healing, story, transformation

That’s an offering of love. (Thank you for that.)

March 26, 2019 By Leslie Ralph Leave a Comment

He kissed the top of her head at the gate and zipped up her coat. “Stay warm,” he said. She dedicated her morning yoga practice to gratitude as she unrolled the mat. They left behind a card and balloons in his hospital room. “Get well soon,” they wrote. He lit a candle for his daughter…

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Filed Under: Grounding, Lightness, Love You, Words

The perfect intricacy of it all.

March 19, 2019 By Leslie Ralph Leave a Comment

She lies along the riverbank, watching the clouds paint on the blue canvas sky. She lifts a lazy finger overhead and traces the shapes as they emerge.    Her right foot dangles in the water. She gives it a slow, easy kick, kick, kick. The sun drenches her skin in warm light, honey-gold and petal-soft….

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Filed Under: Grounding, Lightness, Short Stories, Words Tagged With: grounding, inner child, inner peace, mindfulness, nature, present

This is life, as far as I can see.

March 11, 2019 By Leslie Ralph Leave a Comment

abstract watercolor with text that reads: As far as I can see, it will be me who restores this heart to peace

As far as I can see, there’s been nothing wrong with me. But all this time, I thought I was broken. All this time, I feared what I might find inside. All this time, I saw myself as unsafe. And all this time, I wondered why I hadn’t fixed it yet. As far as I…

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Filed Under: Live Free, Love You, Poetry, Words Tagged With: acceptance, inner peace, mindfulness, self-acceptance, self-compassion, self-love, words of wisdom

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Hi, I’m Leslie!

I'm a writer and artist on a mission to leave this world a little brighter than I found it. Read More…

you may have seen me on:

Simple Instructions for Loving Yourself

Poetry & Meditation for Inner Peace

A Shop for your Beautiful Heart:

NEW: Written Collection

NEW: Love Free Flowers poster from Love, Child. Love.

NEW: Goddess Poster

Spread Good

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