It’s strange being a human. Caught in this place between instinct and deliberation. Between the construct of society and the truth of the wild. Between the physical and the spiritual. I imagine being a bird or an elephant would be so easy, but maybe because I’m not bird nor elephant – rather I’m something with […]
Tag: cristen writes
It is done
There once was a web, woven from fear and pain. A web that too many were stuck in. Voiceless, afraid, separated from their truth and their homes. But I am here to tell you that times have changed. The strings have been broken. The pull has been destroyed. Every tangle has been released. We are […]
Healing with love
If you experienced any kind of trauma as a child, and if you yourself become a parent after the essential inner work has at least been started, you quickly discover that there is this almost miraculous kind of healing that can take place in the most ordinary of daily circumstances, and even more profoundly in […]
Automation
I read something today, something that was beautifully written and seemed to use key words in just the right places so that it seemed right, but it also felt a bit ‘off’. I initially interpreted the off feeling as a trigger, an invitation to explore some wound, some confusion, something within me. So I read […]
Break
Sometimes you have to let this life bring you to your knees, in gratitude, in surrender, in love, in pain. The immensity of our human stories, or the complexity of these social constructs, balanced out by the perfect simplicity of a roadside flower or a morning bird’s song can be so beautiful it almost hurts. […]
A Pretty Story
This isn’t a pretty story, even if all you see are the fragrant blooms in the revealed chapter. What you don’t see, what happens in the quiet when not another soul is around, is bitter and painful. You don’t see the blood dripping from my hands as I dig against gravel and aged earth to […]
Heart
Have you ever had so many things change at once that, in a single reflection, you realize you have no idea how you got here? And you’re not even sure yet where here is. You’re just sure that’s it’s not somewhere you’ve been before. The only thing that’s familiar is the sound of your own […]
Little Things
I love the little things. Like natural light trickling through open blinds, or the way the painted sky calls me away, at least for a moment, nearly every morning and night. Books half read laying face down, waiting expectantly to be picked back up and adored again from the same page. I love getting lost […]
New Year 2024
New years has always been one of my favorite celebrations. At times even the most significant marker of my entire year. I think because it’s always been a time of rebalancing for me. Even as a child who didn’t yet understand what I was up to. A time when the recollections of past lessons naturally […]
The Gift of Denial
Sometimes the greatest gift is no gift at all. Sometimes being denied something is a push towards something better. There’s a reason the treasure waits at the end of the rainbow and not the beginning. Finding it must be a journey. It takes trust and hope and a bit of grit. You have to take […]
Showers to Flowers
Finally, after so many years of neglect, that wounded little girl that I tried so hard to leave behind walked back out into the world with me. I dried her tears and took her hand and stood witness as she showed me all the things that once held her back. It was a beautiful process, […]
Destinations
You see, it was never about arriving. It has always been about the journey. It’s about how many times you fall into a hole and you dig your way back out of it. Wiser. Stronger. Lighter. Brighter. You’re never going to reach some final destination, because it’s always been right here. Here, in the midst […]