“We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It’s one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it’s another to think that yours is the only path.” ― Paulo Coelho

Perhaps it is the purpose of this life for the soul to find its voice. Through all the sorrow and happiness, heartbreak and passion, trial and peace. Something not only endures but begins to form in the shape of both the experience of the present and with a light of the eternal. The spirit finds its stride and in doing so there is a revealing. It could happen in days or decades. The schedule of the soul is a mystery. But there is a journey. Each step forward there is a lightening of our self-imposed burdens. Soon we are bounding across chasms with nothing more than faith. The temporary pain of all the farewells is gradually replaced by the joy of the calling of leading the way. There is so much more, so much more, when the voice is finally found.

“When I was a child my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk, you’ll be the pope.’ Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.”
― Pablo Picasso

Crashing Through A Thousand Fears

Suddenly a single flame reignites from beneath the layers of ashen, wrecked remnants of so many signal fires.

To come to life again when all was nearly lost, hope arrives in the newfound strength coaxed forward by the promise of the eternal.

“Try again, try again. Rise.”

Where so many have long receded in the dust of earthly ages, prone and broken in their dispirited mourning of lost youth and passion. But here - here on this mountain and here upon the drowning waves of the dark sea - the whisper of a single heart, aged and damaged, responds. “I still believe and what can be.”

When the heart wants to run, let it race. When it wants to fly, let it soar.

To crash through decades of a thousand fears. Icarus with new wings and now wisdom gracefully follows the lead of a tracking sun, this time going above and beyond all those previous flights that were aimed at the fire center. 

The canyon walls bellow are lined with a million ghosts of failed attempts. Echoes from the shadows call from behind, “no, no … you will fall too.” 

But fins become wings. Feet break clay. Lift is gained on the rising breath that is the promise of dawn. A forgotten dance is once again performed amongst the clouds of the midday sun. And then the drifting waltz on the edges of golden light retreating below the horizon.

Stars, a million or more lead the way now. The arms of Orion bid Aquila to follow as he leads the way along a Milky Way path of shimmering dust. 

“Keep flying. Keep flying. No fear. No fear.” 

Soon all the wrecked remnants below are lost to shadow. The calls of warning fall to silence. Now nothing but a single voice from above, and from within.

In quiet and stillness, grace of forgiveness. Fears become distant memories. And on the wings of renewed courage peace arrives.

“I am home.”

Three. Always three.

True blessings - the most valuable gifts that change lives for the better - reside outside our comfort zones. They’ll never arrive under the guise of safety and security. To reach them we have to go beyond ourselves, beyond our fears and beyond the fears of others that hold us back.

Previous generations offer more than their fair share of sources for inspiration but it is in the next generation whereby I’m truly inspired. My own children. My nieces and nephews. With no fear they lead the way. I have hope.

Love like fire. Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up. Please.

Fear of displeasing others puts you in bondage to them. Don’t ever give someone else that kind of power. It will reek havoc with lives and destroy families. Instead let go of the fear. Be still and give it to God. He’ll take it from there.

To have the courage to always wander with a sense of wonder and love in the heart that will always bring you back home. Summer in Conkle’s Hollow #hockinghills

Conkle’s Hollow State Nature Preserve is located in the Hocking Hills region of Southeastern Ohio, next to Hocking Hills State Park. The area is about one hour southeast of Columbus. The region is part of the western edge of the Appalachian foothills.

“Let the beauty you love be what you do. There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth.” ~ Rumi

December morning in Sea Pines Forest Preserve, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina