Quiet Reflections and Prayers
It was sobering to find tenderness in unlikely places — to be willing to listen to life — tossing up thoughts and stories gathered and held so carefully in exchange for a new kind of emptiness and the courage to regather pieces of my heart again and again — each time a little more sweetly.
It was a relief not to need to fit the many pieces of my heart together all at once.
There were times
when the most pressing work
to be done
was to retrace my steps,
to return to
a place of reprieve —
to soothe
my own heart
a little more.
After a while I learned to be in my heart and in the world. I learned to extract all that was beautiful and all that was tender from each experience. I learned to stand with the part of me that was most healed and let go — holding the door of my heart for all that was not quite beautiful — daring to continue on with love.
Thank you for courage
to follow where my heart
would lead
and for resolve
to stand firmly
through challenges within
the creative flow
when it would be easier
to take a different path.
Bless all who dare
to continue to create
with love
and those who have not
yet begun.
Amen
What Now became
a way of being.
It took a bit of practice
to allow my mind
to relax into a place
of surrender to the prayer
within my heart
and to integrate parts of me
I had previously struggled
against.
But it was there hidden within
this place
that I found true healing
and peace.
And so the decision was made
to continue on.
There was no room
in that moment
for regret or any other
cluttering thought.
There was silent understanding
in each open heart
that the time had come
to listen a little more deeply
and speak a little more
intently from here.
After a while,
I learned to listen
to the quiet prayer within.
It began as a whisper
without words,
but its presence was enough
to light my path
when I felt most challenged.
It reminded me of
the all that was miraculous
and led to a place
of compassion for myself
and others here at this time
as souls in human form.
A new kind of thought began to echo within. No longer believing old rambling thoughts to be worthy of so much attention left a space for the new.
The echo of new thought soothed and guided ever so gently.
There was a willingness to show up in each new moment — letting go a little more of the continuous narration of mind — a deeper surrender into the silent space of What Now? It took a bit of adjusting to the inner quiet — a retuning to more subtle thoughts and experiences.
What Now wasn’t bound to old storylines. It was a place of possibilities and seeing from a higher view — where I was free to listen to and follow a quiet prayer instead.
There was peace in the delicate way I learned to hold all thoughts and emotions and find my way through challenges — not alone, but with a hint of inner grace and trust I hadn’t known before.
I had gained a respect for the sacred journey back to our hearts. Tender places where old wounds lived reminded me of where I had been and the purity of love able to reach through dark places. The intensity of this love remained and softened the need for such extreme contrast.
Laurie's Notes 