“..Sweet child
you have known an experience
that is a denial of your true nature
a growing up
that left you without true comradeship
without anyone really seeing you
and acknowledging who you are
And now the time has come
to claim her
to gather up that little one
and allow her to grow again within you
in a realm of safety and acceptance
so that she may prepare to claim the joy
that is rightfully hers
You have continued to live out
an unspoken punishment
that no longer has a place
You have been shown a shadow
but now it is time to claim
the light that is its source
And as you do
the experience of joy that lies ahead
will be so powerful
so unfamiliar
that you will be astonished
by the limitations of your life’s vision
up until now
It will be
as if someone threw open the curtains
took off your dark glasses
pulled up the shade
As this process moves forward
there will come waves
like the rising of a tide
that will engulf you with the old blindness
the familiar pain
And while you will experience discomfort
know that there is a part of you
that actually clings to this experience
because it is what you know
and so while it may feel as if you are victimized
by this dark energy
in fact
it returns to you like a lost puppy
because it knows that here
it will find a home
Your job
is to prepare yourself with each rising wave
for the development of the clarity and wisdom
to turn your pain away
to look closely at the part of you
that actually fears joy
as something stolen
something that will always eventually
lead to further loss
When you feel yourself sinking
observe the sensation as you would
if you were learning to swim
All new swimmers are taught
how to float
as a means of survival when fatigue
becomes too great
and there will be days
when all you can expect of yourself
is to float
to know that you will not drown
that you may in that moment
not be able to see the shore in sight
but you will not sink
no matter how tired you are
nor how much cold is in your heart
Instead
you are being shown the old
so that the new may grow in strength
and the key is
do not fight
do not push or struggle
for this is the source of exhaustion
and further resistance to the light
Instead know that
you are developing the muscle
of surrender
the one that will allow you to fall
an then rise again
each time rejuvenated
beyond where you began
Each dark night
is an opportunity to witness the illusion
of the experience
as it arrives and then leaves
and the more comfortable you become
with allowing and naming it as illusory
the more pure will be
the nature of your release
Practice teaching yourself
that there is no shame in shame
no danger in fear
and no failure in inertia
Honour each moment as you experience it
and by so doing
liberate it from its cage of judgement
for it is only fear that attaches
love always sets us free
Know that there is no grand destination
for you have arrived already
you are simply engaged in a process
of opening those dusty windows
to let yourself see
And allow that while you may not feel pretty
while all this is going on
even your understanding of beauty
is about to change
Our beauty is not put on
or acquired
or even developed
it is innate
it lives ceaselessly
and its source is the truth within us
the light of truth that as it shines
transforms every cell of our outer being
Our perfection is released
a cloud of birds
in glorious, heavenly ascent
stirred up from a bush
where they were hiding
all along
You are so beautiful
that you have no idea of it
for your light is blinding
where it has been denied
and you have so bravely taken on
the willingness to liberate it
not just on your own behalf
but as an act of love
for the many who have walked before you
the ancestral
as well as those who travel in step
upon an illuminating path
The darkness rises
only because it leaves
The sadness comes
to show you just how much joy
you have waiting
and the weariness is the call of healing
the demand of the Self
to be cared for
nurtured patiently
in unfettered love
Soon enough
you will discover that joy can be experienced
for its own sake
it does not wait
for permission or penance
in fact
it lives in every thing
every soul
every experience
As you learn to discover this
you will take on the power
of a thousand suns
and join the liberation
of our time
Your identification with suffering
is over
Your empowerment
is begun”
All photos by Olivier Valsecchi.