My Pecan Tree Poetry Blog

just because……by Celestine…..”the plight of the world” and “personal hurt”

A twinkling star was my sage when I started to write this post.  It was as if the star was shining right into my window speaking only to me; although I know that there were others that saw it.  The star depicted strength; a lone warrior.    And if the world ended tomorrow, it would still be shining bright, beaming hope.  But the imagery gets deeper.  I had this thought.  We are inhabitants of earth and we live as the individuals that we are.  What makes us uniquely the same is the fact that we feel……we hurt……we anguish…and we get into mental and emotional overload.  We strike out, or people capitalize on our personal sorrows; for whatever reason.  What if we carved a hole into the core of the earth and everyone that felt pain just poured their feelings into this cavity. Can you imagine the weight of this collective pain?  Where would the world be?  What would be the impact of this weight?

The reality is that these experiences take place everyday; ongoing issues of the weight of the world; our individual and collective repository of life experiences.  This is what happens to our individual souls when we hold onto pain.  The manifestations can create an onslaught against us personally and against our fellow man.

The headlines of current media speak to this every day.  Social issues are telling “us a story”;  stories contrived in cultural differences; stories contrived in just living;  stories contrived in being in the wrong place at the wrong time, stories that may have nothing to do with personal karma, and stories contrived in the name of personal survival; whatever that means.    There are stories of youth dying because of a perceived idea of being where they are not supposed to be.  There are stories of people that hurt others because of cultural differences.  There are stories of abuse.   There are stories of babies slain.  There are stories of elderly slain.  There are stories of rape, robbery, and gang wars to validate some personal stance in life that speaks to an inhumane way of being a person in our society.  Are these negative instances meant to lament on the misery of mankind, or should we take these messages and say shame on us for capitalizing on the misery of someone; regardless of a personal bias or whether personal biases dictate a position of harm to others.  Or should we embrace these biases and admit to being wrong.

The weight of the world of human existence shall always be an issue for us.  We should all strive to overcome a position of harming others to save self or to validate an unwarranted position of “self-survival”.   It is the perspective of life that we chose that will be the factor that will drown us in our personal fears or which will save us from our “personal” ignorance.

Celestine

To share the vulnerability of the soul is to expose yourself, especially to yourself  - be “soul open”.    The following poem reflects my sentiments of what this post is about:

Curtains open…..appreciating the rain…..ears discerning…..listening to the thunder…..soul open…….soul open……soul open………embracing life………

Curtains still open….it is the early morn…..grass dazzling in her dampness ……more fertile……overcast skies…….awaiting another nurturing from the source of the sun…….piercing through natural patterns of life……soul open.

These lines were written amid a backdrop of a heavy rain, figuratively and literally.  And as is typical, I get a lot of inspiration from nature and the natural cycles of life.   This night was no exception, nor the following morning.  The rain, projected to be severe, only ended up being a hard rain – strong, but not torrential.  My mindset was reeling with the events of the day – Whitney’s funeral and how I was personally affected.  This post is not about Whitney’s funeral or any specifics about  her death.  This post is about how I was personally affected with her loss and her death placing me in a position to reflect.

During the course of the day, the evening and in the wee hours of the morning, I was reminded of a quote:

“We only have one life to live, so how do we chose to live it?”

This quote has been a part of me for years as I formed, framed, and orchestrated my life.  After life-altering circumstances reared their presence in my path, these words took on a different meaning.  So to this day, I search deep…….“soul open”.

Nature speaks to me.  It has always been a part of who I am as a person – the water, the trees, the wind, the sun, and life; all of which were inspiration for my collection of poetry, Voice From the Soul of Trees.  The collection represents a life perspective; my  perspective, and my “path”.      I was reminded of this as it rained this night.  The rain provided another opportunity to be vulnerable to me and to God – “soul open”.  Typically, rain can make one feel depressed – lack of sunshine, having a case of the blues or melancholy.   Not in this case. The rain was soothing, it was nurturing, and served to replenish my spirit.

I lay awake most of the night with the rain still pouring.  I chose to leave the curtains open all night.  I didn’t have to worry about who saw me.  Yet, as I went to sleep, I knew that I was being “exposed” in a very special way.  In my communion with God, I was being reminded of “my perspective” – “soul open“.

…”soul open” is another way to express my willingness to embrace messages from God; …ears discerning.  With that being said, I heard the inspiration for these words.    I listened.  If  there are messages for me, I embrace them.  If there are messages I feel compelled to share; I  share them either through my poetry or through avenues such as this new segment of my blog.

I received my confirmation to continue on my path.  And yet, the message gleaned from this beautiful rainy night also had a message that speaks to the overall nature of man; a universal message.

Sometimes, we position ourselves to be so closely guarded.  Sometimes we close ourselves off for fear of being vulnerable – “exposed“.  We block our hearts from enjoying the best blessing in life; that of love and that of having an open heart and soul to truly receive the blessings of life. Thus, inhibiting our capacity to love self and others.

It is easy to shut it down.  All it takes is one hurt, one trial or one broken heart.  Negative consequences rear their ugly head.  We shut ourselves off from the realities of life.  We shut ourselves off from friends.  We shut ourselves from the capacity to love others and our selves.  We shut ourselves off from life.  We miss our blessings because we chose to fix the problem ourselves, instead of “letting go, and letting God”.

The seeds of life are given to us in so many ways.  Being discerning  is the only way for them to infiltrate our being, as God intended.    To be discerning is to be aware……and this awareness leads us to our responsibility to be attuned.  Being attuned means having “discerning ears” and “soul open”.