The past few weeks have been full of celebration, and internal growth (some of it rather painful). I've taken some time to adjust to the new places my heart is leading me. During this time, I've returned to a long-lost passion... writing poetry.
In honor of the first new moon of this new year, I'm going to do something I've never done before... share a poem with you. I'd love to hear from you if this touches you in any way. (I'd also love to hear about any passions you are returning to this year.) Leave a comment below!
Photo by Grace Marcellino Photography
New Year Exhale
by Blue Russ
It's the dawn of a New Year
I am reaching, stretching for a New Me
Fantastic dreams laid upon my vision board, bubbling thru my Facebook feed
I inhale deeply... dive in... up early to meditate, clean house, smoothie and salad prepared, an orderly schedule of self-care, family, and chores ...
Promising myself I will no longer fall into those same damn mind traps,
Those old familiar landscapes of my internal life.
But soon I find myself back on familiar shores,
Sullen, angry at the world (but mostly at myself) for lacking the willpower to hold my breath longer in these new waters.
What if, instead, I simply exhaled... bowed to the familiar patterns that have woven into my heart, honoring them for taking such exquisite care to protect me all these years?
What if... I released the idea that I need a New Me, and instead embraced the incredible, perfectly imperfect me that I already am?
What if... in letting go of the internal struggle, I effortlessly released the patterns, and created new ones, based on my current reality, based on what brings out the True Me?
What if... nourishing the True Me became my new familiar landscape, and in so doing I naturally revealed the internal beauty of everyone around me?
What if, even on the difficult, stressful, unrelenting days I knew exactly how to come home... to me?
It's the dawn of a New Year.
I'm choosing to exhale.