Journey of the Heart

The way before me is unclear and full of uncertainty… It seems like my search for truth and understanding into the nature of reality, of the Absolute, often brings me into places of obscure wilderness. It seems that the more I learn and discover the more I realize how very little I know about anything, including my own nature. There is a constant battle between what my intellect questions to be true and the direction my heart longs to pursue. I stumble and often fall. When I find myself back on the winding path that creeps its way along the mountainside I'm usually in familiar places already traversed. My heart sinks, as it appears very little progress if any has been made. One treasure that I have discovered along my journey's path is my mantra. The maha mantra, the Holy Names of Krishna, I have chanted for more than a year now nearly every day. There was only one dark period that lasted a couple of weeks where my intellect stubbornly denied me

‘Woman am I’, was written to embrace the both sides of my “She”… I see my fallings and my risings, always bringing me back to the peace of my soul. My writing explosion of poetry has been recent, since the ending of a 20-year marriage 3 years ago. It left me broken, bruised and feeling a pain so unbearable I thought I would never get through it. Even when I feel the pain of all that has happened to me, I see the strength that has delivered me, and bringing me to the releasing of my soul through writing.     Art by  Shiloh Sophia Woman as I Woman am I, I see the opening- like a slit of light, against my black. I touch it and, it floods through who I am. Woman am I, feeling my fear, but pressing forward- with diligence, through every tear, I've come to realize- pain becomes my delivering strength, it moves me to compassion. I will not belittle myself, Woman who I am- I see my failures turn to conquests, as I turn to my

The events of our lives shape who we become as we navigate the rivers of our journey… Each new day presents the challenge of how we resist allowing the past to define or limit us.  As we cross on stepping-stones of loss or regret, my hope is that we may we find the love and courage to live in grace. Collage Artwork 'Adrift: Internal Navigation II' by the author, Salyna Gracie The difficulty in forgetting
  
the past is like a river
 ever-flowing currents 
 defying space and time
  
sometimes a delicate trickle 
a sensation of words forgotten 
always on the tip of my tongue
  
other days the river rages 
torrents of memories flooding so fiercely
 the banks of this body cannot contain it
  
yesterdays eddy round and round 
all regret and longing
 cycles that stagnate in cell and bone
  
today the river is restless 
tempting me with its siren song
 resisting the pull of things that might have been 
I give thanks

  This poem invites you to look upon yourself with loving kindness… Gazing at your own true reflection, you will discover that everything you have longed for “out there” is already within you! I invite you to love your creativity fiercely. Faithfully plant seeds, allowing under-the-ground dormant seasons, nurturing your creative garden with love and gratitude. In the fullness of time, the green growing things thrust forth from the ground. It's a faithful, trustworthy process. AND it takes time and patience.  Blessed is the fruit of your creative womb! I invite you to trust your vision of the world and express it. With wonder and delight, paint a picture, create a dance, write a book, and make up a song. To give expression to your creative impulses is as natural as your breathing. Create in your own language, imagery, and movement. Follow no script. Do not be limited by the customary way things have been expressed. Your creative intuition is original. Gather

I wrote this poem after working with someone who felt like a failure because she hadn’t achieved one of her childhood dreams… It didn’t matter that she had achieved so much that she wouldn’t even have dared hope for, when she was younger. She judged herself and her life by the things she hadn’t done and therefore no matter how good life got, it was never enough to chase away her sadness and her regrets. It saddened me that she found more value in dwelling in the past than in creating a future where she was fulfilled.  The main message of this poem is that sometimes the dream isn’t the destination; sometimes it’s just a signpost to the direction we needed to take to meet that person who has been our closest friend for the last 20 years, or to have that experience that we still talk about. If we make the choice to replace regrets with faith, that all is indeed well, we will be able to be fully present in our own lives, enjoy all the good that is already there, a