Reflecting

Colored Pencils, originally uploaded by Jennifer Belthoff.

I have been quiet here lately. Turning into myself. Looking find answers to some questions within my heart. As it turns out though there is no need for me to answer any questions. Someone has answered them for me. So I would like to share with you a poem from the great David Whyte.

The House of Belonging

I awoke
this morning
in the gold light
turning this way
and that

thinking for
a moment
it was one
day
like any other.

But
the veil had gone
from my
darkened heart
and
I thought

it must have been the quiet
candlelight
that filled my room,

it must have been
the first
easy rythm
with which I breathed
myself to sleep,

it must have been
the prayer I said
speaking to the otherness
of the night.

And
I thought
this is the good day
you could
meet your love,

this is the black day
someone close
to you could die.

This is the day
you realize
how easily the thread
is broken
between this world
and the next

and I found myself
sitting up
in the quiet pathway
of light,

the tawny
close grained cedar
burning round
me like fire
and all the angels of this housely
heaven ascending
through the first
roof of light
the sun has made.

This is the bright home
in which I live,
this is where
I ask
my friends
to come,
this is where I want
to love all the things
it has taken me so long
to learn to love.

This is the temple
of my adult aloneness
and I belong
to that aloneness
as I belong to my life.

There is no house
like the house of belonging.

You

You have wings

Beautiful expanding wings

You fly freely

Gliding through the breeze

Soaring where ever you may

You have strength

Strength to rise up and spread those wings

I can see it in your eyes

And the way you carry yourself when you walk

Your strength cast out a radiant light

You are brave

You let people in

And let the world see you, all of you

You smile when you are happy

And shed tears when you are sad

You are kind

Showing a compassion towards others

Understanding and listening

You get to the heart and soul of someone else

You see someone for who they are

You are beautiful

A breathe of fresh air

Continue to keep dreaming

and reaching for the stars

It is your light that will guide you

standing

I feel like I am learning how to stand again

On my own two feet

with no one there to catch me if I fall

Carefully I take each step

Trying to be aware of what surrounds me

Listening closely to each sound

Standing is not always an easy thing to do

Sometimes it is easer to sit

and let it all pass by

But my soul yearns to stand,

To stand tall

proud

and brave

I want to be seen

heard

and understood

As I stand and look around

I notice I am not alone

Angels surround me and cheer me on

I am standing now

Taller than I ever stood before

and I will continue to reach and grow

pattern of life

Open my eyes

let them adjust to the darkness

I can see the pattern

of going nowhere fast

Always ending up in the same place

no matter how fast I run or how slow I walk

The destination always seems to be the same

gloomy when I look at it from this angel

Being in the moment and living it is not so bad

but when I already know the ending before I even finish the first chapter

why bother reading the book?

I already read a version of it before

No reason to suffer through the sadness as tears soak my cheeks

Maybe it is best to just put the book down and walk away until

I am ready to write a new ending