This poem says it all. It is the essence of Wonderfully Human.
The below words flowed out of me from a knowing deep inside. It expresses what I’ve learned so far about this mysterious event we call life.
We’ve all had personal experiences that shake us to our core. They wake us up to life. For these experiences, I am grateful. I am grateful for the pain, for the beauty, for the lesson.
What wakes us up is ultimately what sets us free.
THE THING IS
The thing is, I’ve received this gift,
but it’s hard to describe what it is
in words….this knowing….this gift that came to me.
I once thought words were so meaningful
and now I know
their extreme limitations.
This gift I received from the depths of realness
is not a gift received and taken with our hands.
They’re all good – the gifts that can be grasped.
Who says these tangible gifts aren’t real?
I, for one, say they are not.
What is real is the stirring that arose inside the soul to compel the offer from which one can grasp.
They’re all good – the tangible.
Yet there is something incomparably better.
This something is the only thing that really matters in life.
This something – there are no sufficient words for.
There are no adequate labels that exist in the world
for the grandness gifts of all.
Yet words can help the imagination of it.
Words can help put the thoughts in the mind,
from which point that thought has a chance to travel on a treacherous journey –
a journey that is not real, yet must be endured
ready or not.
This journey is filled with risks at every turn – joyful and sorrowful, happy and filled with angst.
It’s dangerous and exciting and at times extremely passive and flat.
It hurts – a lot.
There is pain that will persist
right before the floodgates open
allowing the beauty of it all to rush in to meet the soft pounds of your heart –
give….receive….give….receive….with each gentle and resilient beat.
The journey is challenging and downright hard, and whether you embrace it and step into it,
or hold yourself back in tight resistance, you will move through it.
Because you must.
Because there is no other way.
Because the alternative isn’t an option for you
any longer.
You will thrive or decay, because movement is real
not stability.
Nothing real stands still.
Movement, action, being, dancing, shouting, laughing, sobbing, scribbling, giving it your all,
with all you have to give,
from where you have to give it –
All these wonderful words that cannot do justice to the gifts I speak of.
The craziness of it all, yet the goodness of it all –
simply what is.
And it is good.
And what is good?
You can feel it
and you can feel when it’s real.
Action is happening whether you’re physically moving or not.
Your greatest pursuits are born from the confines of your stillness
in the intentional pursuits of your mind
from which place you take action….
bursts of effortless moments upon moments….
adding up to your dreams.
Then marvel at the actual ease of it all.
Our journey is about hellos and goodbyes.
It’s about you and me.
It’s about showing up in all our glory and being humbled by all our flaws.
It’s about all the little happenings in between the low and high extremes
and how we choose to be.
It’s about seeing the goodness in it all –
the grandness and richness of it all
no matter how wonderful or how tragic.
It’s about having the courage to be you in every possible moment you can.
It’s about allowing the gift of yourself
to shine in the world.
This gift I speak of, that cannot be described in words – the only thing real in this world –
is that which is good in you….and me….and every other human being –
All that is good
in action.
But it’s not what you can see or figure out.
It is not what you can see or figure out.
So stop.
Stop trying.
What’s real is the stirring in our soul connecting with the souls of others
inspired by the simplicity of authenticity and compassion.
There is no right way. So there is no pressure.
There is no “should” or “have to”.
There is nothing to do because it’s always been there
and can never leave.
There is a goodness in all of us, the gift of which can only be felt
when we allow ourselves to embrace our nature – our unique and loving nature
and then move in the world from this place.
Move in the world from this place.
No matter what – we are human – so we can expect to start and fail –
and start we must
and trust the abundance of retakes in the waiting.
Start again and again
being who you are
wherever you are
whatever you’re doing
however you’re feeling
Enjoy the simplicity and celebrate.
From here the gifts abound –
flowing out and in and back again…
the gifts that cannot be grasped.
The grandness gifts of all are circling around within our reach
coming to us
as we give….and receive….
with each gentle and resilient beat.
Written by: Lea Gambina Pecora