Tag: poetry

Reflections

A Gentler Way

Laurie's Notes

The time came

to find a gentler way,

to turn back

from the path of mind —

retracing my steps

just a little.

…

At first it felt

a bit lonely,

as there seemed to be

fewer taking this turn.

And I admit I missed

the crowds at times

and the paved roads

and maps.

…

But as I walked this

strangely familiar path

unfolding in front of me,

I began to remember

what it felt like

to walk on the earth,

to be free to notice

and allow my attention

to fall where it liked,

to experience the world

around me

and inside of me

without a constant

narrating mind.

…

And sure enough,

just as I had guessed,

I was okay

in this place —

where everything was

as it had been —

feelings and sensations

and challenges

and thoughts.

But without the narrator,

without the constant story,

they had taken on a

lighter feel,

softened somehow —

along this path

of the heart.

Prayers

Just for a Moment

Laurie's Notes

Just for a moment,

let’s hold what is

most true.

Let’s dust off those

wordless prayers

we keep tucked away

and raise them up —

past all the noise

on the surface

to their true place —

not to reach some

distant goal,

but just to meet,

just for a moment,

in the heart.

Amen

Unsorted

Into the Heart

Laurie's Notes

Thank you

for each part played

in this great mystery

of life —

for there are

surely no small parts here.

Thank you

for each act of love —

each burden carried,

held with honor

and transformed.

Thank you

for each moment

of true connection

kept sacred —

those who dare

to hold something pure

within,

sharing only the beauty

of its reflection.

Thank you for each

courageous step

into the heart.

Amen

Honoring

For a While

Laurie's Notes

For a while

my words seemed

to not be heard.

They seemed

to lash out

against each other,

for a while,

as the anger tried to find

its place,

as all that wasn’t right

found its way

to the surface.

And so I began to honor

all these fractured pieces

and assure them

that they did indeed belong,

that they were heard

in me.

And I freed them.

I let them go,

set them free —

trusting them to come back

a little less fractured,

in way that could be heard,

in whatever form needed —

to keep speaking

what was true,

perhaps  a little

more gently

or more directly

or with just enough

passion and restraint —

until they fell silent —

into the place

where there was

no more distance

between the speaking

and the listening.

Unsorted

Whatever Was Required

Laurie's Notes

There was a holding

and letting go motion

that happened

out of the need

for the purest kind

of love,

the kind that could honor

without understanding

and heal

without fixing —

seeing through

and even loving

all the murky places

where human minds

get stuck —

somehow leaping over

or sinking down past —

taking the slightest step

back into itself —

whatever was required.

Unsorted

Sacred Hope

Laurie's Notes

And so I vow

to live

in a new way,

fully present and grounded,

unafraid to be right here

among all that is

messy and unclear

and uncomfortable,

in surrender

to all that is most healed

in me,

holding space for more healing

and sacred hope

for the transformation

of all that seems unhealable

and unsolvable,

in reverence

of my own experience

and yours.

— from earlier notes