Journey of the Heart

 Fear was once my way of life… Yet being one with fear helped me to survive life-threatening situations in the violent and chaotic household I grew up in. I did not even realize that I was afraid then.  However, once the danger passed, living in a constant state of fear drained my energy and robbed me of the opportunity to live my life to the fullest. My beloved teacher and healer, David Vendetti, was the first person to help me name and claim my fear. During a bodywork session, David stopped the work he was doing and placed his hands on my heart. He then had me place my hands over his hands to let me know we were in this together. He told me, "This is fear...this is heart trembling fear," and then proceeded to help me share with him through my body the rage and fear that resulted in trembling.  Shortly after this session, to address my fear, my pen -my Divining rod- helped me to articulate the experience of fear. As a result, I was able t...

  Thornton Wilder said, "There's the land of the living and the land of the dead and the bridge between them is love." I wrote this poem after a beautiful weekend of yoga teacher training in September 2012. Following a morning meditation. I was stunned by the contrast between my traumatic childhood beginning at age 5 with paralytic polio and childhood sexual, physical and emotional abuse with my amazing life overflowing with unconditional love, kindness and compassion.  This poem is part of a collection, "Songs of Freedom: Poems From a Healing Odyssey Volume II" which will be out later this year. The Bridge Restlessness filled my cells in the dark quiet of the night transported to another time and place to remember loneliness coldness numbness a black and white photo a snapshot knowing even then I was separate from the walking dead. Yet I was separate from the living a wandering stranger wondering would I e...