We do not need permission
To live our life guided by that which lives within us.
And yet, too often, some part of our heart
Waits for someone else to give the go-ahead
Before we fully embody our wisdom and our silliness,
Our joy and our sorrow.This is what it means to give our power away:
To court the approval of others
To silently ask for permission that is not another’s to give
To spend our lives waiting
For that which was within us all along.~Oriah Mountain Dreamer
all of our fears and hurts and mushy spots……we sometimes think we’re not fit for knowing others…….and every time we think that, we get a little more mushy….maybe we can open wide and let soul rush in…….
In the East, the soul is sometimes symbolized by a lotus, rooted in the mud, nourished by the water and opening in the sunlight. In the West, the soul is sometimes symbolized by a rose.
-Imagine that you are a looking at a rose. Notice the color and the shape and the degree of openness. Notice whether it is attached to a vine or a bush that is rooted in the earth. Imagine that you are watching it open and mature until all the petals fall and return to the earth.
-Imagine that you are a tiny seed of a lotus buried in mud. Imagine extending tentative new roots deeper into the mud and feeling an urge to push upwards. When the new sprout breaks through the surface of the mud into the water, you redouble your efforts, reaching up towards the light and simultaneously extending your roots deeper into the mud. Is the water warm or cool? Is there any movement in it? Feel it sustaining you. When you break through the surface into the sunlight, feel the warmth of the sun and the opening of the petals of the blossom of the lotus, offering its perfume to the air.~Frances Vaughan
Within you there is a stillness
and a sanctuary to which you can retreat
at any time and be yourself.
~Herman Hesse
