I used to wait for a sign, she said, before I did anything. Then one night I had a dream & an angel in black tights came to me & said, you can start any time now, & then I asked is this a sign? & the angel started laughing & I woke up. Now, I think the whole world is filled with signs, but if there’s no laughter, I know they’re not for me.
😁
Waiting for Signs – Story of the Day – Story People
Those who wish to enter this path must accept that they can never explain either to themselves or to others the mysterious inner unfolding that is taking them home.”
― Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Catching the Thread: Sufism, Dreamwork, and Jungian Psychology
Fear resists. Resistance thickens. Allow your veils to thin. Love glows through Autumn rind. Get hollow.
Wake up, let go of dream. Wake down, let go of mind. Be, through brittle leaves, sunlight. The grace of death will hold you almost weightless in your fall.
On the far side of your face is radiance. Don’t name it. On the far side of radiance, the un-created dark. Polish it with breathing.
And what is on the other side of emptiness? Your barefoot kiss upon the earth, a round green mallet in the gong of silence.
Penetrate each opposite until you touch the other’s axis, arriving at the tremor of genesis, shattering the Imperishable into purer fragments of itself.
A nipple of purple chanterelle, shivering upward in the mist. The vulva of a broken apple, bubbling in a sunbeam. Ferns remembering to bow.
Presence solidifies, for there is nothing else….
but this mud moment where it all began, which is where you stand, the stinging grass, the wetness.
🐳
Fred LaMotte
And the things you know before you hear them; these are you and the reason you are in the world.
💞
William Stafford
come
just as you are
rusty and dusty
a bit ragged
with that nagging cough
edges frayed and worn
a bit of dust is the stuff of life
dry bones beginning to breathe
be alert, that’s not chocolate under your fingernails…
check the room, don’t let the bedbugs bite…
but do let your out-dated arrogance go up in smoke
easily, so easily, let go your striving
remember life is but a dream within a dream
kiss me with the mouth with which you just voraciously ate rare meat –
that mouth you drank copious amounts of wine, with –
just kiss me thoroughly
let your carnal juices run and mingle with mine
don’t stop to wipe your sweat dripping onto my waiting skin
let me trust you
with my darkest secrets
and yes, please, do the same for me
let’s tell the stuff that make us squirm
let’s be completely uncomfortable together
leave the light on so I see all of your naked body
while you trace my stretch marks I will gently kiss your souls’ scars
we’ll lay all night in pools of our wetness
square in the middle of the circle of us
arms and legs intertwined and hearts entwined
until I am paralyzed with the beauty
I am learning everything I need to know in this world
the song of the whales as they ride the green and blue star filled waves
I want to run and feel and sing and tell 1,000 stories
I need to be all here
to be real
to see you
to be seen
to live through my senses
to love with my touch
there’s nothing else that is more valuable
there’s nothing else I want
there’s nothing else
❤️
Amy Lloyd
Some days I feel like a Pulitzer winning novelist
whose manuscript has been eaten by beetles
and whose typewriter has been thrown into the sea.
I feel like the greatest husband on earth
in the Alzheimer’s ward trying to pick out my wife.
A world class musician who’s just had a stroke.
A holy saint trapped in the body of—well, me.
A prima ballerina on crutches.
I feel extraordinarily gifted,
and unable to live it out.
Whether it’s luck or fault or fate matters not.
The crutches are real.
But I am a prima ballerina,
and I am resolved,
even with these damned crutches,
to carry myself with grace.
Some odd divine intent prevails.
I am still a saint; so I am resolved
to live with a shred of kindness showing.
In my corner of the world,
even if this is all in my head,
that’s a noble calling,
and, when I can pull it off,
God being in it,
something of a miracle.
“‘I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:14).
💞
I know the word story carries with it so many emotions, so much heaviness, but relief, too. I know in your head you want words and memories to make sense. You want things to line up, and it is tough to not have answers, to not be able to explain the reason behind this happening, the cause of this event.
What if you knew more than you did? What if you could give an answer to the whys of your heart? What if you didn’t have to struggle with weakness, with inadequacy, on your own? Can you imagine where that would lead you?
Do you trust how I protect your heart?
I protect you, and I push you on, too. I lead you, but it is your choice whether or not to follow. I give you vision, just enough, to see where I am and know where I go, with you. One foot in front of the other. Why do you need to know more? Do you? Do you need to know more to believe Me more? Do you need to see more to know I am here, whispering to you, loving you, guiding you?
My daughter, you are not alone.
My daughter, you have what it takes, my creation, my dear one, to follow Me.
My daughter, you are the only one of you I’ve made. There is just one. Only one, my dear. You are my crafted jewel, my sparkling flower, my glistening water as it falls from heaven.
You delight Me, child.
Please don’t look away, believe this is too good to be true. You feel that way to Me, you know. . . too good to be true. You are radiant and captivating and you need only stand with Me, watching where I beckon you, knowing I am the sure place for your legs to stand.
So, rest now. And then rise up. When you believe, a little more, choosing these words, my love for you, as true, you are on your way to a deeper place I have for you.
I have so much more for you, child.
💞
Loop
I came to the end of the sidewalk
I was wondering which way I should go
There were gates for each road all around me
The signs up above were all flashing to show…
…this way
and that way
right way
wrong way
There was your way
and my way
and his way
and her way
I stood at the end of the end of the sidewalk
It was all so confusing you know
Which gate was the one I should enter?
Which road was the one to lead me back home?
Cause there was
high way
and by way
low way
and long way
There was which way
and what way
there was fast way
and slow way
there was dream way
and scream way
There was wander way
and squander way
One sign read short way
one even read no way
there was one reading far away
all the way to the milky way
Then I saw a small sign near the bottom
It wasn’t flashing or bright
But this sign it caught my attention
Cause this sign in the shape of an arrow
sat pointing toward a dirt road marked LIFE…
Now this road it had a small entrance
Not many had gone through before
The gate was all rusted and creaky
Had to knock just to open that door…
It was dark and a little bit lonely
There was just a small lamp for to see
It took me awhile to adjust to the style
For this road was far greater than me
For it’s Your way
not my way
It’s a new way
Walking life way
The longer I walked, I saw better
Though it never got easier to see,
But this road lead right where I followed
cause Life was the journey, you see…
💞
Amy Lloyd
Diamond Road…Sheyl Crow
Walk with me the diamond road
Tell me every story told
Give me something of your soul
That I can hold onto
I want to wake up to the sound of waves
Crashing on a brand new day
Keep the memory of your face
But wipe the pain away
When you¹re lonely (you¹re not alone)
When you¹re heart aches (on Diamond Road)
It’s gonna take a little time
Yeah, it’s gonna take a little time
When the night falls (you’re not alone)
When you’re stumbling (on Diamond Road)
It’s gonna take a little time
To make it to the other side
So don’t miss the diamonds along the way
Every road has led us here today
Little bird, what’s troubling you
You know what you have to do
What is yours you’ll never lose
And what’s ahead may shine
Beneath the promise of blue skies
With broken wings we’ll learn to fly
Pull yourself out of the tide
And begin the dream again
When you¹re lonely (you¹re not alone)
When you¹re heart aches (on Diamond Road)
It’s gonna take a little time
Yeah, it’s gonna take a little time
When the night falls (you’re not alone)
When you’re stumbling (on Diamond Road)
It’s gonna take a little time
To make it to the other side
So don’t miss the diamonds along the way
So don’t miss the diamonds along the way
Every road has led us here today
Won’t you shine on
Morning light
Burn the darkness away
Walk with me the Diamond Road
Tell me everything is gold
Give me something of your soul
So you don¹t fade away
When you¹re lonely (you¹re not alone)
When you¹re heart aches (on Diamond Road)
It’s gonna take a little time
Yeah, it’s gonna take a little time
When the night falls (you’re not alone)
When you’re stumbling (on Diamond Road)
It’s gonna take a little time
To make it to the other side
So don’t miss the diamonds along the way
Don’t miss the diamonds along the way
Every road has led us here today
Life is what happens while you¹re making plans
All that you need is right here in your hands.
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
life: acoustic & amplified 