*open your hands if you want to be held*

Dear blog world, do you ever feel like everything you've ever hoped for is right in front of you and you're too chicken to do anything about it? Hmm. . .me too.

The past few weeks have been interesting. From saying goodbye to my sister temporarily, to Thanksgiving (which tends to be a very emotional reminder of how much I love my family), to becoming an aunt for the first time, its been quiet a roller coaster. I haven't really taken the time to process everything since finals immediately took over my life. Instead I've sort of escaped it all through my imagination and I've learned what a powerful gift that is. Miraculous openings have occurred and I've felt things I didn't think were possible. Now its time I just write.

There are hidden places of myself that are ready to come back. I think for a few years it was necessary for them to close, as a survival mechanism, but I'm starting to find a balance again. I I'm also starting to get it through my head that some practices are necessary to cultivate any opening. I now know who I need to be in order to be fully self-expressed so its just a matter of employing those things. Yoga, poetry, music and the people I love inspire me the most, so sharing from those places are key.

There is a poem by the great Jelaluddin Rumi that a friend recently shared to such a beautiful extent that it really got inside my head. Here are my favorite excerpts:

A Community of the Spirit

There is a community of the spirit.
Join it, and feel the delight
of walking in the noisy street
and being the noise.

Drink all your passion,
and be a disgrace.

Close both eyes
to see with the other eye.

Open your hands,
if you want to be held.

Sit down in the circle. . .

. . .Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.
Live in silence.

Flow down and down in always

widening rings of being

You can read the whole poem here.

There are a lot of people I want to express appreciation to, so several of the next few posts might be about them individually. Hopefully they don't mind : ) Until then, a few songs that move me to tears. . .