MY SOUL SETTLES BY THE SEA by Mary McManus

Last summer I spent a lot of time at Carson Beach in South Boston.

I remember the first day it was low tide and I went to walk out to the water. There was what looked like pimples on the mud. Upon closer examination, I realized that they were baby snails - thousands and thousands of them. I didn't want to risk stepping on any one so I gingerly returned to my beach chair patiently -or initially not so patiently- waiting for the tide to come back in. As I sat, my first thought was that I was hot and wanted to go into the water. My feet were all muddy - yuck! Could the tide please hurry up and come back in? And I smiled and laughed warmly with myself. I felt so blessed that I could open my heart and Spirit to receive the gift of that moment. I chose to use that time for a meditation.

At first blush, the snails looked like nothing more than pimples of mud. How quick we can be to dismiss and miss out on so much in the world because we allow appearances to deceive us. These beautiful vulnerable creatures were there as a sign from the Divine.

As a polio survivor in a long leg brace in first grade, I was dismissed and demeaned always chosen last believing that I was less than because of what happened to my body. No one saw the beauty that was still me. No one cherished or honored my Being just as I was. As I look back on it - wouldn't it have been magnificent if another child could have walked slowly by my side and together we could have taken the time to cherish the simple joys of nature. So much value is placed on running around, accomplishing, doing and we miss out on so much of life. We miss out on the time to just, sit and be in the moment.

Mother Nature taught me a wonderful lesson that day. It is so important to cherish and embrace all sentient beings.

Each flower, each animal and each person has so much to teach us when we open our hearts to the wonder of it all. Nature moves in her own pace and rhythm one that is untouched by the 'will' and desire of a human. Life becomes incredibly more peaceful, and wonder-filled once we surrender to what is; taking peace and comfort in knowing that all is exactly as it should be.

Photography by Catherine Ghosh (Paradise Island, Bahamas)
~

My Soul Settles By The Sea

Pimples

shell-less snails

finding their way through the muck and mire

one speed – slow – for these Divine creatures

vulnerable at low tide

living in the moment

no expectations

no wishing the tide would hurry up

bemoaning their fate.

Steadfast and sure

known mudfilled mission

wordless fearless world

knowing only how to be

basking in the sun.

Gentle breeze

my heart beats

synchs with nature's soundtrack

breathing fully

deeply

at a snail's pace

peace

my soul settles by the sea.

~This poem is from my Songs of Freedom:

Poems From a Healing Odyssey Volume I: Elements of Healing~
(click here to purchase)

Photograph 'Paradise Island Sea' by Catherine Ghosh

Mary McManus poet, blogger, and yogini left her award winning career as a social worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs in May 2007 to heal her own life. During the dark night of her soul she began to express herself through poetry. Her pen became a divining rod for light, love, hope, possibility, health and wholeness. She began her journey of transformation and healing which took her to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and, in 2011, to her yoga mat. Mary holds a BS in Public Relations from Boston University and an MSW from Boston College. In January 2013 she will be a graduate of South Boston Yoga's 200 hour Body Awakening Teacher Training Program. Be sure to visit her website here and follow her inspirational blog here To hear Mary read selections from “Songs of Freedom:Poems From a Healing Odyssey” visit her youtube channel here. Mary's books of poetry are available on Amazon here.

~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~

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