Vision's Rebirth

I started out this journey as a rose locked in a cage. I grew up where the earth meets the sky, and the great ocean waters reflect the fog covered mountains, where sky lights up like fire at sunset. As a child, my hopes and dreams sprang up like wildflowers but became trampled by the fires of those in authority. Pleading to the birds of the air – carry me away with you. Begging God – give me wings. Instead, I was trapped in a cage of hidden torment no one saw. My leaves withered and my petals dropped. I walked my given trail, always looking for a way out. My emotions became a dark abyss, light fading day by day, yet carrying it with a smile.

The earth has always been my grounding place, my respite and solace from the storms, so into the woods, I walked. Along came a hawk reminding me who I was inside, to remember the power I had to imagine and feel when I was a very, very young child. The hawk showed me a vision of a knight. The knight’s cloak, torn and tattered, his flesh exposed and bleeding. The knight spoke, “Look inside of me and you will see the light inside of you. Trials are parts of the trail, but you must fight the darkness to become the light.”

I felt my sprout begin to stir inside my cage. I began grabbing up my trials like arrows into a quiver carrying them with cardinal strength and determination instead of a weight holding me back. Walking into a meadow, flowers began to spring up and butterflies surrounded my feet.

Alone, in the forest, I trudged my path, and one by one my quiver got lighter as I found I didn’t need these arrows anymore. Those things I held onto were not protection, they were lessons. I saw deer, bears, and mountain lions, and still, I needed no weapons for they greeted me with messages of love. So, I began shooting my arrows as an offering, tokens of peace for my soul. At last, I had no arrows. My tattered and torn cloak was changed to a gown, and I realized the knight was me. Looking down, I saw my cage, now no more than a trinket under my foot.

Walking on new flowers of peace, joy, and wisdom began to flourish. I could see grey skies on the horizon, but the sun walks with me as I honor my emotions, keeping them in the light.

Abundance is not in the riches of man, but what I hold inside in grace, the freedom to let the earth be my teacher, and the willingness to grow and flourish.

My heart is protected because I am grounded.

My soul now soars for I am the eagle.

My ocean waters, my emotions, while they get a little rough sometimes, I shapeshift into a lone wolf and howl at the moon till dawn, so nothing is left in the dark.