Journey of the Heart

In The Knowing I am called, blessed, beautiful, glorious, kind, lovely. I am fruit being transformed into wine. I am the nard from the alabaster box being poured out upon humanity. I am prophetess and bride. I am garden-dweller and tree. I am the perfection of my perfecter and my creator calls me royal, chosen, and holy. I am pliable clay being molded and sculpted. I am a songstress and the lifegiver's song is being sung through me. I am the embodiment of I AM! I am I am I am.        Shikera  Thomason   is a native of  Carroll County in North West Georgia where she lives with her wife April. After eleven years as a special education teacher, Shikera knew her heart was leading her in a new direction of teaching. After much prayer, she pursued and earned her master's degree in Human Services and Psychology from Mercer University in May of 2018.  Shikera has a passion for impacting humanity through servitude carried out in love. During the last three...

The Dry Leaf You hang mid air  Held aloft by  a gossamer thread Teaching me to trust  And let go. Showing me: I too Can effortlessly Lie back and let Life rock me Back and forth - the mother I yearn for. How did the spider Spin its web just so And just when? How did no other leaf But you, fall at just The right place From just the right height With just the right weight? I watch you  Wondering when The breeze will topple you over And what purpose you serve. I spotted you hours ago Yet you're still there. Musing, writing, I look up But you're gone A soft rustle tells me  You've joined your kin On the ground. What a surprising sense Of loss I feel Like losing a dear friend. *Find more of Tara's poetry in her new book. Click here for your own copy* Tara Anand  is a Life Coach, Counselor, Mindfulness & Yoga Teacher, Writer & Author of  " Why the Lotus Blooms: Choosing to Stand Tall" . Deciding to honor her inner voice at the age of thirty-fou...

Finding the Light  (a little girl’s long quest)   “One day you will find the light”  I used to hear in church when I was a little girl.  “And the light will heal you from all the suffering and pain.”   I started to look for the light. I thought maybe mom had it  and she would just give it to me but she didn’t.    Well, let’s see, maybe grandma has the light  but she didn’t have it either.  I asked everyone if they had seen the light.  I really have to know everything about it.  What does it look like?   Does somebody carry it around?  Does it belong to somebody specific?  What color is it?   Some people said they have seen it.  They said it is beautiful but hard to describe.  Some said they have heard about it  but can’t say what it sounds like.  Others said they have felt it  but can’t describe what it feels like. So I kept on looking for the light until one night I found ...

Questions to Myself                      ~ for Elena   Can you hold close to your bosom the knowing that all will change?   With this understanding, do you have the courage  and the faith to walk out into each new day?   What choice do you have? You have borne the agony and the joy of impermanence.   The response is clear – to face your life with either fear or allowing. Open your hands; let life flow through them.   The primal urge to grasp is futile,  like attempting to contain water in a sieve. It will not give you what you want or need.   Feel the coming and the going;  be exhilarated in the both. Delight in the dance of each precious present moment,  float with the tides as they rise and fall, lovingly held upon the waves of time.   Carolyn Chilton Casas   is a Reiki practitioner and teacher, as well as student of metaphysic...

During these times of the pandemic —when we are all inside our homes—I've found myself looking through my windows at different shades and patches of clouds that were moving by fast, as though attempting to reveal something about the profound truths of life. As I gazed at the sky yesterday during sunset—after a long, strenuous day—I could see different shades of colors and became delightfully filled with a fresh energy of hope, peace and inspiration. Nature heals my wounds, and watching clouds, I’ve found, carries away my burdens, at least for a while.   Clouds   Gazing up at the blue sky absorbed in the serenity of shadowy outlines after a long, depressing day— instantly, my mood is changed! My soul’s longing for peace stimulates my dormant mind nourishing my soul, slowly.   Lost somewhere for a while: Away from the harsh reality of life— Clouds move in patches representing my feelings, in this incredible creation by my Creator!   In the assorted colors of the sky re...

Why The Lotus Blooms: Choosing To Stand Tall " is a memoir I wrote for every woman or mother facing challenges similar to mine. Someone so busy striving to excel in her roles of mother, wife, daughter ... that unknown to her, she slowly loses touch with her inner self.    If some day, forced to face this crushing loss, she decides—as I did—to set out on a journey to reclaim herself, she is likely to face stiff internal and external opposition at every step. This book is a tender offering for her so she does not feel so alone—I hope it will comfort her so she can keep choosing to follow her heart fearlessly.   Each chapter of my memoir begins with a poem I penned contemplating my innermost struggles at the time. 'Why The Lotus Blooms'—the poem I am sharing today—provides the theme for my book, and is one among many that feature in it.    The lotus flower is very precious to me. Whenever I find myself discouraged by the apparent challenges and struggles we m...

During this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, what seems to have created insurmountable uncertainty, our hearts were crack wide open with so many different emotions. I--as I am sure many others did as well--fell into grief, as we all moved through the beginning months of this pandemic and continue to do so now. We learned to lean into love and the love of dear ones around us, but moving through this pandemic, I did hold the hand of grief. Loss of dear ones close to me to COVID-19, the world coming to a complete halt, the grip of it. Yet bearing witness to my grief,  I allowed it to have space. By doing so, grief finds its way to lead me to compassion, to hope, to love. Writing during National Poetry Month, April 2020 and publishing my book, Our Surrendering Pause: 30 Poems in 30 Days , brought me to write so many different kinds of poems. To touch the edges of us, to inspire us, to allow us to find space for grief, for pause, for love. This is why I wrote this book. Please know that a...