Lost

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.

No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

-David Wagoner

I’m off tomorrow for a trip home.  Me and the family and the trees need some time together.  I may see you here while I am there but if not, I’ll see you when I get back.

Photo by my Dad.

xo

“…if we never met again in our lives I should feel that somehow the whole adventure of existence was justified by my having met you.” Lewis Mumford

I believe in magic. I know for a fact it is real.  I have seen it.

On Saturday we were lucky enough to witness a day of delights and fun and personality and truth as our wonderful Sas married her beloved Ash.  When I arrived I was swept upstairs to the room where she was getting ready.  There is no greater honour than to be invited to be there to witness such an enormous day. To top it all off, within the a hour the whole bbc* were there. We giggled and cried and whooped (you would have too if you’d have seen her in that dress!) and held space (sometimes taking up too much space) for our dear friend.

That alone would have been magic, but there was more.

The kind of love that was in that space with us was the most powerful of all – love that has been chosen.  I witnessed the love of a group of women for each other. I witnessed the love of a new aunt for her new nieces and nephews.  I saw the love flow from a room full of people as they vowed to hold and support Sas and Ash in their life together. I watched two people choose to be together forever and got goosebumps knowing how deeply true their vows were.  Most magical of all though was the moment that I saw a family being born.

Sas & Ash: thank you for showing the rest of us how it is done. I wish you everything you can dream for yourselves and more.

*bbc = brit blogging collective

Photo by McKinley-Rogers Photography

“Where your heart is, there is your power. Without this energy nothing in your life can manifest or flourish, from your romantic relationships to your artistic creativity.” – Caroline Myss (from Sacred Contracts)

She said to me: “I love your shoes. Very Sacred Feminine.” When I had caught my breath she had already moved on to another conversation.  Sometimes moments like that really throw me. I spend a lot of my time going through the world knowing that people have no idea who I am.  To be seen like that is a gift I do not take lightly.

I stopped blogging because I was scared of where I was going. I was scared of the path through the trees and the images that were coming to me. I was scared that you wouldn’t like it if I went on and on about stories and archetypes and metaphors. I was scared that I would come across as a new-age nut and no-one would read a word I wrote ever again. I had been joined by the old pain-in-the-ass: “Who Do You Think You Are?”

What I discovered, however, is that once you crack open the door to your heart, there is no closing it again.  I’ve been bombarded with signs and dreams and connections and messages and messengers and love.  In the face of all of that, who am I not to listen?  So I’m back and I am listening and I am writing and I know that this kind of writing is where my heart is.

“Where your heart is, there is your power.” Caroline Myss is a genius.

xo