I’ve been learning so much.
About life.
About the world.
About my soul.
About myself.
About what it means to be a human being.
About what connection truly is.
About what storytelling means to me.
About HOW I want to tell my story.
About the things we hide and the things we expose.
About the SOURCE of my being.
About life after and life before.
About love and the multitudes of ways we experience it.
About love and the multitudes of ways we can BE it.
My life has been a container, filled to the brim with experiences and then shaken together, for good measure. Some of these experiences have been beautiful, some have not. There are traumas I’ve healed from, and some I’m still learning to even acknowledge healthily. There have been lows that are lower than the lowest depth, but also, joy and triumph that has carried me on wings.
There have been moments of deep disconnection and internalized living, but I am now in a season of slowing unfolding; a peony in bloom after being tightly coiled. I am opening to life, to myself and to the deep mysteries of the universe; without shame, without fear, and without judgement.
Of whom shall I be afraid?
The world I live in is one of my creation and when I have the understanding that everything I am experiencing, I CHOSE and agreed to experience, I can then open myself to embrace everything before me. It all serves a purpose. It all serves a plan.
My soul holds an ancient knowing that I trust fully. I myself am an eternal being; here, there, and everywhere else, all at once. Yet I am also human, here in this earthly body. I honor my triune self: body, consciousness, soul. I’m learning that to be connected means to embrace all parts of myself and all parts of my story.
Some of it is ugly. But other parts are stunningly brilliant and beautiful. There is no whole without the parts.
I thank Source for the gift of being present in this time and place.
I thank my gifts for coming through me.
I thank life for making me a student, and for the lessons.
I thank the Earth for being the container I move through in this body.
I thank words and books for being wellsprings of inspiration.
I thank dreams and angels for their guidance, for their messages, and for their protection.
I thank the Universe for its magnificence and I delight in being able to be a part of its unfolding.
Love is what matters. Love is what carries us. Love is what nurtures us. Love is what gives us the courage to say, “Maybe I can try one more time.”
I thank love for being.
Which is to say, I thank God that we get to exist together in harmony, as one.
There are many things I’m learning, and while there are distractions all around, I place my focus on what grows a life of meaning and purpose. I focus on what helps me to elevate: mentally, physically, and spiritually. I share my journey to encourage those who are also on it with me.
Fight the good fight.
Make good trouble.
Know that everything you are experiencing is meant to grow you.
Sometimes the growth comes through grief and loss. Other times it comes through joy and elevation.
Pruning is growth just as much as the tree bearing fruit is.
I hope in these words, you’ve found something to hold on to. I hope you know and feel the importance of being who you are meant to be in this life. I hope you know that whatever moves your soul is your calling. I hope you know that your soul will call to you over and over and over again until you listen and respond. Stay open. Stay willing.
And if you find yourself in the in-between, not quite blooming, not quite buried, I want you to know that even here, you are sacred. Even here, you are enough. Growth isn’t always loud, and healing isn’t always graceful. Sometimes, just breathing through the day is holy work. Trust that your becoming is unfolding at the perfect pace. Your story is not too much. Your heart is not too broken. Your path is not too late.
We’re walking this journey together, soul by soul, breath by breath.
Keep going. You are held, deeply and endlessly, by something greater, and by the quiet love we offer each other through our stories.
With love and IN love,
AV.