a softening~

i used to live my life
surrounded by noise
always consuming
watching
scrolling
multitasking

how little time i took
to listen to the soul
to sit and be silent
to allow for flow

a deep exhale
allows me to recognize
the innate beauty
of simply being
as I am

i remember the days
before i thought twice
about the ways a rose
chooses to bloom so faithfully

as i grow and spring forth
from the garden
i once planted seeds in
there is an ease in the air
a calmness of sorts

what if just for this one instance
you chose to let everything go
all you once knew to be true
to simply be attentive
and experience your own goodness

how to find oneself in a world
that encourages you to be everything
you simply are not
seek and you shall find, dear one

and so this weathered old heart wanders
to compare is to rob oneself of joy
went searching for a feeling
only to be found
right here

lying dormant are embers
of the human who once was
free will speaks to me
requesting curiosity
that of which will save the world

so coast to coast
I allow for the detours
yet I look up in a remembering
of how i've been saved
by the Divine

far too many times
have I fallen victim to the great machine
the art of awareness
keeps me disciplined

beside and around me
all i observe
are people existing within echo chambers
rushing to nowhere
chained to captivity

I ask of the world
go ahead.
stimulate my mind
speak to me with honesty

this life in a state of motion
i release all of which is not true
to feel and be human is a gift

to smile in the face of another
is to find home
i fall, i fall, i fall
yet again i rise

when you choose the path
of the heart
few will understand
acceptance.

how to exist
within the walls of a world
requires a dissolving of self

growing pains allow for
this unearthing to occur
in cherishing the beauty of today
i see myself
with form, yet formless

to be alive in a time
when everything around me
is dying
requires fortitude
resilience now.

the only way to be in the world
is by knowing the world
and loving it too
liberation resides on the other side
of fear

so lean into this
walk with me
shine your light
& may we all be freed.