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.
Tag: Tenderness
With a Hint of Grace
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.
Something Beautiful
It took a little practice to become willing to walk a new path. Finding it meant reaching inside for the light needed to take each step. It meant remaining willing to listen to life and feel my way, even through uncomfortable experiences. It meant trusting a whisper of truth to become louder and the most chaotic experiences to soften and be used to create something beautiful, but not all at once and not all alone.
The Path of Tenderness
There was something about walking through a big enough challenge, the kind that forces the choice to go all the way, to put all cards on the table without a guarantee that it would be enough — trusting it would be met by a greater power.
And there was something about no longer needing such extreme challenges in order to live out this kind of deep surrender. At a certain point, every moment became a prayer of hope — that the path of tenderness might be a little clearer.
Always
I always returned
to the tenderness
I first knew
to follow.
There were doubts
and questions
and moments where
the path seemed
less clear.
But it always led
me safely back
to the tenderness
within my
heart.
Hidden Treasures
I learned
to use all that
had once seemed
unwanted and painful
in my experiences
and inner heart.
I found there was
tenderness
and connection
and meaning
hidden as treasures
to be found.
And so I vowed
to hold
and honor
and set down
all of it —
until I could
hear my own quiet prayers
more clearly.
It wasn’t always
comfortable.
But it was always
tender.
All That Was Tender
I found that
I could filter
and then hold
all that was
tender within
and all that was
reflected back
just a little gentler.
And so I vowed
to hold these things
a little longer —
sure that they would
grow.
Subtle Knowings
Something longed
to know the space
below the surface —
to tune myself
to subtle knowings
of my own unwhispered
prayers.
It startled me
at first
to sense
my own true voice
and notice where
attention landed
when it was allowed
to play.
The subtleness
seemed almost
too tender to hold
without trying
to translate into
words.
But I learned to hold
the forming words
a little longer
and allowed my heart
to lead.
The Surrender
I learned
the sweetness
in not having
answers.
I learned to
show up
with my fear
and let go
of everything
I thought I knew
in each moment —
trusting I would be
met.
Words came.
Important pieces
showed up.
But it was
the surrender
to my own unique
journey,
my own higher Self,
that I found
most sweet.
The Most Tender Place
I held on
to a tiny whisper
from my heart
and the smallest bit
of silent space.
I had tried
all other ways
and sensed the time
had come to risk
all that was left
and let go of my mind’s
idea of how
this thing should go.
Anyway, that tiny whisper
couldn’t be ignored
much longer.
The way
to a new place
was through
all I didn’t know —
the most tender place,
this place of
in-between.
Laurie's Notes 