Eden

    Candles surround, their flames swaying in the gentle summer breeze. Steam rolls gently in the air, beckoning her to join. After such a long day at work, the prospect of peace and tranquility in the arms of mother nature brings a comfort so needed. Stress and health have weighed down her spirit, and after finding the perfect playlist, the towel is dropped on the table beside, and she sinks into the silky embrace.

    Scents of rose and lavender wrap her in a cocoon of serenity, and the tight ponytail is finally released. Waves of blonde drop down her back, waves of gold shining under the bright moon that keeps watch over her child. Every muscle ache and tension melts into nothingness. She has become one with the elements; hip deep in water, kissed by air, cradled by earth, lit by flame, living in the spirit of the world.

    The wind caresses her weary frame as she takes up the small pitcher, pouring it over her head. The strands soaking in the nourishment afforded, body drinking it all in; luxury and freedom at being in a place free of judgement and fear. No one knows of this sacred place, and in the darkness of her home, she can be the goddess that she hides behind layers of clothing while in the public eye.

    Rose scented cream runs through the glorious locks, cleaning and softening. Her mind replays the vision she had days before when Brigid came and swept her to an elder tree, and she basked at the earth's heartbeat, allowing herself to become one. Given an initiation as a healer, and her soul mending the broken pieces that had been scattered through the ages. Even now, as she scrubbed at her fair complexion, shining under the moonlight, she can feel the transformation from within; a green deity ready to soar, and take her place in the natural world. The path will be long and arduous; breaking away from the habits of which she has become accustomed, but Rome was not built in a day, and as Janet S. Dickens stated, “The wings of transformation are born of patience and struggle.” At this time, you may not be where you want to be, but never give up. One day, your time will come, and it will all be worth it.

 

A Journey

 

    A new and open road.

    A thousand places to go.

    A new journey that hasn't yet been written.

    Most of us during our lives will take this unknown highway, and found ourselves in a place we could never have imagined. Whether by choice, or chance, it can be both frightening and wonderful.

    In a month or so, I will be taking a similar road out of my beloved and beautiful hometown, towards a city where I only know one person, and a home that will finally be my own.

    My situation at home has never been ideal. With a narcissistic mother, and an, often, manipulative father, I have been sheltered and kept from experiencing life as it was meant to be. Things have spiraled, keeping me from Instagram and the journey into bettering my writing. I've been abused, mentally, sometimes physically, leaned on to the point I nearly went bankrupt, and used as a buffer between a man and a woman that never should have married.

    Am I scared? Absolutely. Do I think that I might fail? Of course. I think that everyone experiences this at one point or another in their lives. I don't want to go all this way, and discover that everything they said was true, but I do have the fight in me to make my situation better. The alternative would be ending back at the gates of hell, and I know that this can never happen again.

    Will this be the only open road I will traverse? Probably not. My heart will always call to this city. It's where I was born, where my heart remains, where my family was laid to rest, and where I hope to be myself. However, there is a part of my life's story that is waiting outside this state as a whole, and I need to get out and experience what pleasures others have who came before me.

    Will I end up living in a camper van, traversing the wilderness in search of fresh herbs for an online store? Will I go to Bar Harbor, Maine, and become a saleswoman of fine tea blends? Maybe to Texas and have a farm where I can grow everything I have every wanted.

    Only the road knows.

Realization

 

    "I could never live like that", you used to say, sipping on Starbucks with your friends. The idea seemed repellent, and you went about your day, immersed in the world you thought most important, but enmeshed in drama from the moment you got home.

    As you got older, materials seemed less important. Moving place to place, it was harder to keep hold of possessions so simple; furniture, knick-knacks, and even decorations like fake houseplants. Your life had to fit into a U-Haul, and with each place left behind, you learned to take less. Once graduated, you saw the world open before you; the ability to get a full time job without school getting in the way, college courses that fit into your work schedule, a car that allowed you to travel at your leisure, and money in the bank that helped you become permanently established, effectively breaking the cycle of evictions that followed your family.

    After a while, you take a road trip to a beautifully forested area, something you couldn't have fathomed. Your therapist said it would help you unwind and let go of the burdens of the world. Now that you're a responsible adult, the drudgery of the day to day routine wears you down. Phone on silent, you walk the paths and listen to the flow of the streams, chirp of the birds, and rustle of leaves on the trees you can never name. The outside world of cinemas, conventions, carnivals, and expos, cannot hold a candle to the simple pleasures of life. You arrive back at your car nearing nightfall, then your home by 9pm. Showered and in bed, you reflect on your day with such perfect clarity, that in your dreams, you live it all again.

    How was it that you ever went without personal days? Allowed others to determine your day? Let the world's politics and beliefs, sway everything about you? Realization hits home faster than you intended, and though it seems like a spur of the moment decision, you review your finances. The next day, you take every penny of savings, and buy an empty bus. Within the year, the work is done, and you leave the material, for what is now your true home.

Once Upon A Time

    I lay awake at night and dream of worlds that have never been and will never be. In the void that hangs above me, I can be anywhere I want, and experience all that life has to offer. As a writer, I often continue with an idea I've had. It always revolves around love, and the one I wish I had. Back when I was in high school, I wrote such a story, and it's to him that I always go back when the world becomes too much.

    Once upon a time there were two lovers that met in a snowy cemetery. He'd been coming there many times when he thought she might be there, and watched as she sketched and drew the tiny haven. The noises from the outside vanished behind those walls, and you could be invisible.

    That fateful day she happened to look up, and the moment their eyes met, she knew there could never be another.

    Like Romeo and Juliet, their families divided them. As high schoolers, they didn't need love or romance, but to stay grounded, and be as jaded as they had become. Their souls were broken with the loss of the other, and one night, they passed in their sleep.

    Buried, and forgotten, the two roamed the pathways of their own purgatories; cold roads where no light shines to guide your way, and there is no marker to find your way out. After decades, when acceptance of their plight washed over, they found each other. Like a beacon in the night, they rushed to embrace, and held on for dear life. In that moment, a solemn vow was made to the life of the other, and with courage in hand, they crawled their way out of hell, and back into the waking world.

    However, the place had, seemingly, been demolished, and a new in its wake. The world was more accepting, and the city had grown into splendor. However, murder and other foul sins still plagued. In that moment, they vowed to avenge their deaths, as well as those of innocent people, while making a life in the shadows that no one could take away.

    I will forever sleep in his arms. Safe. Loved. Alive.

 

It's Going to be Okay.

"You need to get your blood pressure under control", the doctor says with kind, caring eyes. His eyes are wise from his years, and he places a hand to your shoulder. Not just a worried physician, but a family friend. "Or else it could become dangerous".

He knew what it meant to live with your family, having seen them on a regular basis. It wasn't an easy. Your mother still tried to control your life, and your father didn't like it when you went out on your own, but you did it anyway. For your own sanity. Your apartment, however, wasn't going to be far enough away. they all knew the address, the phone number, your work schedule, and your friend's homes. Even if you tried, the grid was covered. You had vacation time. It was now or never.

Miles away. The stress eating you alive with every tick of the car's meter. It was sudden, how you left work, but necessary. Your boss didn't seem to mind, which was a blessing, but everything else; the responsibilities were already chasing you, and no matter how fast your drove, they clung like carrions.

Sleep didn't come easy, and it was only when the chiming of the alarm on the coffee pot that pulled you from the rest you managed. That moment, however, was one you would never forget; the snowfall, coating the area in a blanket of white and peace. No cell phone reception, traffic, or the constant need of being on point. As you sat with your coffee in hand, the way forward was clear, and, finally, you took your first full breath. It was going to be okay.

 

Welcome to Life

    The day dawns, and you slip from the comfort of your bed, pushing open the drapes to greet the day. The day is mildly overcast, but the breeze that flutters through the sheer curtains is gentle and warm. You walk through the sliding doorway your tiny home, and into the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

    Not long ago, you moved from the comfort of the city to enjoy the peace of nature. No sounds of car horns to interrupt the call of birds. People talking loudly in the apartment next to yours, or walking across your ceiling in, what sounds like, steel toed elephant boots. No more congestion of traffic on the way to work. No smog that skews your vision of the skyline. When you step out your font door, there is a small path leading to the adjacent field, and you can walk for miles without meeting another soul.

    The blue kettle settles on the induction cooktop, and you stand before the windows to stretch wide. Today, you begin your journey on becoming the next great novelist, or perhaps, break out the camera you purchased on a whim and snap some shots of nature while you hike through the woods. Maybe you'll see a deer drinking from a stream, or sit beside the bubbling stream as it flows to places one can only imagine.

    All you know for certain is this; whatever you called, 'living', before nothing more than survival. The stress will melt away to perfect ease as you finally take your place in the beauty of nature, and make a haven of your own.

    Welcome to life.