BirdWings

"Your grief for what you’ve lost lifts a mirror

up to where you’re bravely working.

Expecting the worst, you look, and instead,

here’s the joyful face you’ve been wanting to see.

Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes.

if it were always a fist or always stretched open,

you would be paralyzed.

Your deepest presence is in every small contracting

and expanding,

The two as beautifully balanced and coordinated

as birdwings." ~ Rumi

I often find myself running through life airport to airport, my efforts spilling out in areas that I don't have to. Can I accept contracting so that my energy is reserved for things that matter most? 

Break open the joy inside. Peel away the loss and make obvious to me what others say they see: the grace and confidence that inhabits my own birdwings. 

Expansion is allowing my heart to be laid bare. Bravely examining the past as lessons so that next time, it's no longer a lesson but a choice. And in those choices I hope to be confident, as I recover from insecurities that have built up residue around my convictions. 

Leaning into aloneness and allowing for deep presence is preparing me for the next phase. A return to love within.

May 2015 be filled with that joy, good health, love and the omission of everything unnessary revealing only what matters most.  

Image: Georgia O'Keeffe | A Black Bird with Snow-Covered Red Hills