Universal Hug

You all fit comfortably into the circle of my arms.
When I really see your heart, you fit lovingly into mine.
I take a step back to where your truth can be seen, not just my reactions to your exterior and surface vibes.

Benevolent indulgence, appreciation and non-judgement enable true clear sight and positive vision.

Persephone

All the treasures I touched have turned to dust.
Weights drag me back toward the drowning pool with every step.
A heavy mystery works against me.

This place has no meaning, no feeling of home or belonging.
A stranger looks back at me from a mirror before glancing to the side.

Did I stop somewhere along the way as my life went on without me?
I feel the weights.
I feel the weights.

Circles of hell I've always walked.
I see this now.
When I thought I was stepping out of one, I stepped into a smaller, tighter one.
One day I will reach that Center where no movement can be made, and there is no smaller thing for me to become.
Where my life and my death meet, there can be nothing left to find--
except my salvation.

I go to this center, to this lowest region of Hades.
I accept this as the quest set to me:
To journey through the deserts of corruption and emptiness while dreams of Paradise plague me until I reach some final Hell of Enlightenment.

Once I resisted this darkness as a shroud of annihilation.
Now I will wear this shroud as the robe of my calling.
I will look into this blankness as my mirror,
walk into this Cold Embrace, rest my weary forehead on her shoulder
as her smooth cool hand takes mine.
She leads me.
Now I will see
What she will show me.

Not Quite Yet

I went down to the shop of horrors.
Crazy mirrors showed me everything.
Spent all my tickets on reflections -
Nothing scarier than what I saw that day.

Gathering all these poor Mis-Shapens,
I stuffed them into a grocery bag.
Tangled whispers pleading, muttering -
I take them so they cannot follow.

Along the way more mirrors leered.
I wonder how much more can fit.
I cannot leave this lot behind,
Nor can I bring myself to look.

Clouds are gathering in my chest,
Whirlpools circle round my gut.
So heavy, so hard to keep this ol bag closed.
I'm almost ready for the Storm -

- But not quite yet . . .

Stay Connected.

When we participate in this life, we participate in the cycles and conflicts to find the resolutions and the harmonies. Opposites and oppositions magnetize and repel, creating the circles and setting them into motion.
Ever widening these circles and reaching higher, we create the spirals, storms which may destroy us or raise us to transcendence. Even as we spin in the apparent chaos of the dance of life, we stay firmly connected to our center and The Center so we may rise and explore and not be flung into confusing blindness and fearful illusions of separation.

Starting Line

crazy thoughts fill your head
you think it's too late for you now
you've tried and tried again
only to fall short every time
one more time
you step up to the starting line
one more try
you want to have it all

you'll never settle for something less
than everything you see in glimpses
like a magnet drawing you
even pulling you up from underneath endless layers
dark and heavy upon you

crazy winds are filling your heart
your're thinking it's too much for you
can you find the strength to stand?
will you fall again
fall short one more time?
you can never settle
for something less than everything
one more time.
you step up to the starting line...

Sherry Fraley

Well, it's that time again. Time to make another go of getting my life together, so to speak.

New Human

You are so open and so free, so ready for the love that comes your way. Wherever it may come from, you recognize it, and you embrace it without trapping it. Each moment is leaned into with wondering eyes and eager mind and open heart. You are the new human, lower lows and higher highs contained in one invincible sanity.

Thoughts inspired by Captain Jack Harkness and The Doctor

On Outliving Monsters

Monsters that haunted me
I ceased to fight
Fierce holds loosened
Malicious lights in raging eyes dimmed
Gutteral rumblings and restless growls
Were assuaged by great gulps of silence.

Accusers who sat in judgement
I ceased to debate
Rinsed the grime of their documents from my hands
and walked out into the Loveliness
breathing earth and drinking sky.
Those old courtrooms held no jurisdiction
Over the fate of my soul.

I did not conquer all my fears. I out-lasted them.
My adversaries shriveled and starved
In the absence of my round stares.

There were books I did not need to finish, after all
I could simply lay them aside and find better stories.
If I open the old tomes now,
Their power to enthrall and magnetize has dissolved.
Their scowls and whimpers fall through my consciousness like sand through a sifter
Until shining nuggets alone remain.

sherry fraley, 2007

The Secret

by Sherry Fraley

I know a secret, and it could change everything.

I was looking out the window and suddenly remembered that I knew this secret. But it has no words.
It’s something like eternal life, or just being born but being conscious of everything.
It’s like loving your enemy.
It’s like shaking hands with Death across a great ocean.

But it’s not these things exactly. It’s the hidden thing that makes all these things possible.

It’s like the twinkle in the eye that says everything without words, or the smell of flowers in the sun, or the sparkle on the sea.
There’s a smile that sees everything and feels everything and loves everything because the one who smiles knows this secret. Do you know it?
If enough of us know it, it will change everything.

UPWARD CLIMB -- Getting Out of Bed

"Everybody out there,
This is what we're learning:
We all need to listen,
Listen to our True Voice."

The hardest part of the day can be getting out of bed, especially if you have already beaten yourself up.

This morning when I woke, guess who else was already awake. Yep. My Inner Critic (IC). Pointing out all the things I need to do, the things I should have already done, and the people in my life who probably think I am less than swell for not doing this or that, and so on. Also, I think that this morning IC was depressed, so I had a Depressed Inner Critic (DIC) to deal with. And then, guess who woke up. Yep. My Angst-Ridden Grump (ARG). Actually ARG tends to fluctuate between Angry & Rebellious and Angst-Ridden. So this morning DIC and ARG were having it out before I could open my eyes, and I was already exhausted before doing a single thing.

As you can see, I've let this situation get out of hand. These two are like the squabbling kids in the back seat of my car, and now they've crawled into the front seat and are trying to grab the steering wheel, but neither one of them can reach the pedels, and neither DIC nor ARG have a license!

Well, finally I awoke to my dilemma, and realized I had to find my True Voice. It wasn't easy, because DIC never seems to want to be quiet very long. Finally I heard it.

Imagine yourself excellent.

And it was the life-line that pulled me out of the right side of the bed. DIC was still mumbling as I went into the bathroom because, well, the bathroom is definitely not up to DIC's standards. But I had some energy and focus now, so I was on my way.

So how do you know which of those voices you wake up with is your True Voice?

"It does not bring you down;
It brings you back around,
Telling you
What is too good to
Not be true."

When I heard "Imagine yourself excellent", that focused me on my Highest Self and my goal for this life. It set me back on the path of my Upward Climb and gave me energy to keep going instead of lying in a miserable, muddy ditch with DIC and ARG. My critic and my grump are not my enemies, just my immature parts that still need structure and guidance. And, of course these two loveys are not the only inner voice distractions to manage. For example, there's DD, the Detail Demon who is best friends with IC . . ., but let's not go there right now.

"There is no condemnation,
Only liberation . . .
Listen, listen, listen,
Listen to your True Voice."

-Excerpts in green from LISTEN TO YOUR TRUE VOICE by Sherry Fraley.