On the run

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facing fears, inspiration, prose, running away

This is such an inspiring post. Maybe this is a lesson we all need to take on board. Facing up to the past instead of running away takes courage. How courageous are we?

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Dancing leaves

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autumnal, colourful, dance, emotion, Heaven, leaves, re-blog, second chance, warmth, wonder

What a beautiful picture! The colours are stunning and bursting with emotion …

Freedom, Courage, Integrity

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"Ten poems to set you free", abundance, enlightenment, fate, field, Miguel de Unamuno, philosophy, poetry, Roger Housden, sadness, seed, spirit

On days when things weigh me down, I like to read this poem.  I find it uplifting.

THROW YOURSELF LIKE SEED

by Miguel de Unamuno

Shake off this sadness, and recover your spirit; sluggish you will never see the wheel of fate that brushes your heel as it turns going by, the man who wants to live is the man in whom life is abundant.

Now you are only giving food to that final pain which is slowly winding you in the nets of death, but to live is to work, and the only thing which lasts is the work; start then, turn to the work.

Throw yourself like seed as you walk, and into your own field, don’t turn your face for that would be to turn it to death, and do not let the past weigh down your motion.

Leave what’s alive in the furrow, what’s dead in yourself, for life does not move in the same way as a group of clouds; from your work you will be able one day to gather yourself.

o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o

“Unamuno’s name is remembered in Spain, even today, as a symbol of courage and integrity. In saying that to live is to work, Unamuno even infers that a life without work is itself a kind of living death. But the work that is truly yours is the life that is truly yours; and if we have created something from our labors, it will speak for us long after we are gone.”¹

¹Roger Housden – “ten poems to set you free”

Damaged People

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blogging, cruelty, damaged, healing, imagery, metaphor, pain, peace, poetry, tranquility, trauma

Aren’t we all damaged in some way or another?  We all have baggage.  Not one of us can go through life completely unscathed.  Sometimes we do not know what to do with our pain: we hide it, we disguise it, we pretend it didn’t happen.  But no matter how much we try to leave it behind it follows us, manifesting itself in anger, depression, withdrawal.  Let’s care for our damaged brothers and sisters in whatever way we can by recognising their pain and offering love and understanding.

Damaged People

“Damaged people are dangerous”*
Are they really, I reflect
Can this be so, how do you know?
On this bright morning in a country far away
Such sorrow permeates my soul
Does that make me dangerous to know?

A morning of tears, remembered fears
Withering looks from the past
Cut the heart, tear me apart
Pain racked soul heaves my body
Causing me to tremble and shudder

Cruel words spoken with loathing
With no care for the innocent soul
Who listens carefully
And believes this to be truly
The way things could be

No! Damaged people are not dangerous
That simply is a fallacy
And one to be
Disregarded and buried
With past memories in a hurried
And impermeable coffin

Damaged people are to be loved
Taken to your bosom
Allowed to rest there
To be provided with a shady cove
A haven of peace and tranquility

Spoken to as if re-born
Gentle whispers in their ear
Reassuring them there’s no need to fear
That which hurt and broke them
Can no longer stoke the fires of pain

The embers glow now
Softly speaking of
The peace within
That poker no longer
Rakes the healing scars
It is powerless
My tortured soul’s at rest.

*Ouote from the film Damaged

© Marie Williams April 2009

Letting Go

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abuse, compassion, forgiveness, hurt, letting go, moving on, pain, prison, release

Why is it so hard to let go of past hurts?  Do you know, I’ve struggled with this and try as I may, I cannot come up with the answer.  But I have tried hard to do this – saying “I forgive you”, and at the point of saying it, there is a feeling of release.  But oh how easy it is to slip back into unforgiveness!  It’s as if I am in a wrestling match, trying to overcome my opponent.  I think I have him pinned down, but then he frees himself from my hold and grips me in another hold, where I struggle to free myself from that hold in my quest to become the victor.  My conclusion is that it’s not possible to completely let go, it’s an on-going process and if you can get to a place in your heart where you feel the grip is loosening, then you will feel better.  Perhaps for some of us it is more healing to say that “I am forgiving”, rather than “I forgive” realising that it is a process and a journey (for want of a better word) and that by looking forward to that place of forgiveness, each step taken, takes you closer to your goal.  I found that trying to release my pain through this poem was a step on my way to forgiveness and letting go.  I’m guessing we all have a poem to write …

Forgiving You, For Giving Me Hell

In this beautiful place

On this beautiful balcony

Overlooking the beautiful sea

I see

My father in a different light

I begin to view his plight

 

This morning it’s not about me

This morning it’s got to be

A gradual awareness of how blessed

He is, that God has made me see

How broken and wounded this man has been.

So now I reach out

 

And without a doubt

Release him, I free him

From the prison of my heart

I say: “get off your bed, you’re free to go”

I open wide the prison door

And stand aside

 

That he might slide past me

And fly outside

That he might soar

With wings of love

Into the sky above

So long I’ve held him prisoner

 

Watched him through the window of my soul

Refused to give him parole

Screamed that he in prison would die

But now I see that he must fly

His tormented soul begs my forgiveness

And so I release him

 

I can no longer his judge and jailer be

I’d like to say, with one fell swoop I set him free

But that would be a lie

My qualifications for this job did not come easily

The tears I shed, my wounds they bled

I flirted painfully with death

 

So you see, I earned this position

‘Twas not given me

I could not relinquish without a fight

A lifetime of immeasurable hurt

But now I choose to set him free

Go on, go quickly: I will not change my mind about this clemency

 

You don’t deserve it

You misfit

You don’t deserve it

You’re so unfit

But because I choose to let you go

To lose my sorrow and my woe

 

You’re a free man

Free to leave your prison cell

Free now to dwell

Wherever you wish.

Copyright Marie Williams July 2009

The Mathematics of Power

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communication, control, harmony, healing, mathematics, peace, poetry, power

 

I’m sure we all have people in our lives who exert/have exerted a certain amount of power over our lives.  When this happens we feel that we have no power.  We are subject to their whims and manipulative tendencies.  As children we are unable to fight back, to stand strong, to exert the power which is very much an intrinsic part of our nature.  Power does not have to be a nasty word although it can seem this way when we are the victims of another person’s control.  Those of us in powerful positions e.g parent and child, should use that power wisely.  Do not use that power violently, spitefully, mockingly, cruelly.  Take power over the power you have and be kind, thoughtful, compassionate, understanding and above all, realise that taking power and control is everyone’s right.

 

The Mathematics of Power

Power plus control equals pain

Power minus control equals harmony and strength

Power plus control plus pain equals fear

Power divided by two

Gives me and you

The chance to enhance

A balanced relationship

 

Control decides who takes the lion’s share

It becomes the snare

In which the other is trapped

I didn’t want that for you and me

But sadly that became my reality

You had the power; I supplied the fear

I held you dear; you did not!

 

Now we are so much older

I could not do the maths then

Children often struggle

Literally and physically

Now, I have the power

Power minus control

Equals harmony and strength!

Copyright  Marie Williams – July 2009