February 10, 2013

The Way You Are

I know the digging
The broken fingernails
The frantic scratching
Hard earth, sharp stones
Can’t stop you
Knowing you’re almost there
Where the answer will lie like a glowing light
Buried and hidden from sight
You’ll go all the way to China
And back

You will break your back
Break your shovels
Break some hearts
Before you will ever find
The broken part of you.
You have found the wrong question
And can’t put it away
Turning it over and over in your hand

A shiny coin, an illusion
That your mind can’t let go of
Watching it turning, turning
Hypnotized to the soft seductive message
Etched on the metal
“What’s wrong with me?”
It’s a fool’s gold
You chase

I know the search
I love your journey
You will find some answers
But not this truth…
You’re perfect
Just the way you’re supposed to be
Why can’t that be enough
Why can’t you, any of us, come to a place of peace
A place of rest
In that.

You’re perfect, just the way you are
And there’s no one else like you.


James wrote The Way You Are for his sister, my friend Monica, in response to her search for understanding her lifetime struggle with distraction.

Jame's poem resonated with me because I too struggled with distraction through all my years of formal education, and still do.

It took me until recently to realize that being a top ranked swimmer back then was one of the only ways I ever really felt successful.

It's amazing what we figure out as the years move along.

The truth shall set us free.

Thank goodness for this.

Happy early Valentine's Day everyone.

Extra XOXOXOs, 
Louise