We all need inspiration, wait to be inspired. In my experience, it does not arise spontaneously. It demands that we take personal responsibility for finding resources such as counselors, books, workshops, energy workers and self-help groups. It takes strength, openness, willingness and patience to persist.

 

In my writing and personal life, it has taken courage, a willingness to face what we don’t even know yet: how our past has shaped who and where we are. How many of us really know who we are? When did you last ask yourself: What does my heart want?

 

One of my poems in Wings to Fly is called Running Still. It refers to our belief that if we just keep running on the fast track, it will lead us to happiness. Running implies just that. It often means running away … from negative feelings, fears and pain. Most of us hold the belief that if our lives are already painful and negative, going within just leads us to more of the same. So, we often decide to run ever faster, work harder, and struggle more.

 

The never give in, never give up approach to our lives, leads us outside ourselves, hoping that we can outrun our pain. We can be frozen in this space … held hostage by our past, without understanding how it controls us. We can be frozen in time, frozen in fear: afraid that if we soften our heart and let the ice melt, the Fire will destroy us.

 

It seems that we need to feel safe, protected. The question that is inherent is-- safe and protected from what? Have you noticed that our concepts of safety and protection are often unseen and silent? It may be that we are looking for answers. If so, answers have a voice. You and I have voice. And, our voice comes from within.

 

What if we could see all of what we think is good and bad about ourselves, laid before us? Is it possible that each quality or action that we judge to be good holds some potential to be bad? Maybe we hold all the possibilities and if we don’t judge them, our lives are just a story, a continuum that changes with who is looking and who is judging.

 

I wonder about why we keep secrets. In terms of creativity and inspiration, they restrict us from emotional and creative freedom. When you really think about it, secrets arise from fear. And where there is fear, love has left. Fear keeps us from knowing ourselves. In my experience, fears are often based on someone else’s distortion of reality or an outright lie that was passed on to us as a child.

 

You are in you, in your heart, body and mind. The operative word is in. You stand tall, smiling, generous, fully alive and fearless. You are innocent. It is true , however, that when you choose to enter this storming innocence, you will need snowshoes.

 

The snowshoes keep you from sinking … a metaphor that works for me when I think of guidance or a safety net. It is critical for your growth to have people who know the way and have taken the path that you are about to follow.

 

Be prepared. Ask for help.