Bitter

If I could tell you anything to save you the time and the lessons in this life, I would tell you to never let anything that happens to you turn you bitter. Don’t let the pain of something that was out of your hands turn you cold, love. Stay soft, as hard as that is sometimes, try.

Try with all of your heart to stay tender. I know there’s a lot of things that hurt, take us to our knees and threaten our hearts with a stone cold grudge. Let it go.

You can’t change it, but you can choose to not let it change you. Don’t let the pain define you.

You are bigger than that. I hope you know. You are never how someone makes you feel. Let it hurt, then let it heal. But don’t linger there.

Remember who you are and rise.

~ Stephanie Bennett-Henry✨

Beauty & the Beast / Women’s Rights

The original version of “Beauty and the Beast,” published in 1740 by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, was more than just a fairy tale. French writer Jeanne-Marie le Prince de Beaumont later produced the most famous version of the tale, titled “La Belle et la Bête,” in the 1750s. Rather than a simple fantasy, de Beaumont’s rendition served as a critique of women’s rights during that era, cleverly hidden behind layers of marital guidance.

In this version, the “Beauty” character is distinctly comparable to the too-beautiful Madame de Ganges. Like the Marchioness, Beauty willingly goes to, but then is forced to submit to the will of a ferocious beast. De Beaumont’s work sheds light on societal expectations and the challenges faced by women, emphasizing the importance of agency and autonomy in relationships. Later adaptations shifted the emphasis to teaching young girls “good manners” and how to navigate the idea of marrying young and being in arranged marriages. So, while the Disney adaptations may focus on romance and magic, the original tale had deeper layers of meaning.

You’re Within Me

I could allow the grief to bury me alive.

Just let the loss of you

crush whatever’s left of me.

But you’re not a memory,

you’re a light still shining.

Burning bright, and something I carry with me.

When I speak of you,

I do so without remorse.

I beam with pride.

I speak of your exuberance.

I give them your energy.

I tell them you were art embodied.

Dancing avant-garde, bold and beautiful. Where you went, sunshine followed.

I tell them that you made life musical.

Every smile, a song.

Every laugh, a celebration.

Your life, your light,

changed me in the greatest of ways.

All the love shared between us doesn’t cease simply because you’re not beside me.

You’re within me.

My skin and bones.

My heart and soul.

The air I breathe.

The sun I stand beneath.

You are all around.

You are everything that made me.

And that sort of light never fades.

I’ll take all the love we shared,

and continue sharing it.

J. Raymond

Poem from The Kindred

📸 credit: UNKNOWN

To the woman who is loosing her spark Donna Ashworth

To the Woman

Who is Slowly Fading Away

by Donna Ashworth,

from To the Women

To the woman who has lost her spark.

To the woman whose get up and go, has well and truly gone.

This is for you.

This is to remind you, that you don’t have to be everything to everyone, every day.

You didn’t sign up for that.

Remember when you used to laugh? Sing?

Throw caution to the wind?

Remember when you used to forgive yourself more quickly for not always being perfect.

You can get that back again.

You really can.

And that doesn’t have to mean letting people down or walking away.

It just means being kinder to you, feeling brave enough to say no sometimes.

Being brave enough to stop sometimes.

And rest.

It starts the moment you realise that you’re not quite who you used to be.

Some of that is good, some of that is not.

There are parts of you that need to be brought back.

And if anyone in your life is not okay with that… they are not your people. Your people will be glad to see that spark starting to light up again.

So, if you have been slowly fading away my friend, this is the time to start saying yes to things that bring you joy and no to things that don’t.

It’s really pretty simple.

[Image: A Hot House Flower (1909) watercolor heightened with bodycolour and with gum arabic, heightened with gold by English painter, designer, and draughtsman Sir Edward John Poynter, 1st Baronet, GCVO, PRA (1836-1919).]

Poetry, Tea and Me

#poetryteaandme

Broken Men

The truth is. He is a broken man. And honestly, you’re not meant to fix him. You’re not meant to save him. Change him or even force him to get his shit together. No. If he doesn’t want those things for himself to begin with, then why should you exhaust yourself trying to help him. You can’t make someone care. You’re not his mother. And your love is not meant to be drained by redirecting careless grown men towards their glory. You’re better than that. You have your own problems to deal with. And honestly, you have better shit to do.

-R. M. DRAKE

Current Energies

Notice as we shift from a physical to deep energetic awareness, the nature of our existence is changing dramatically. Increasing stress, energy or incompatible life situations reflect we are adjusting to a higher vibration. Old patterns, behaviors and beliefs are surfacing for release. Feeling disoriented, “out of place” in the familiar, the acceptable is suddenly unacceptable and beckons action. This tells us we are no longer focused only in 3-D, we are shifting into higher realms, or conscious of and integrating multiple realms already.

Unusual aches and pains through the body are purifying and releasing blocked energy vibrating at 3D, while we are vibrating in a higher dimension simultaneously. Recalibration is underway.

Rest assured, it’s common to awaken during the night between 1 and 4 a.m. or even multiple times. The dream state is not what we are taught. We can’t all yet handle intensifying energy for long periods, must break it up. ‘Cleansing and releasing’ is going on, allowing insights into the interdimensional nature of night dreams. Short-term memory loss, sporadic recall of the past are common. We are growing aware of existing in more than one dimension at once, and flip-flopping back and forth as part of the transition like changing stations on a cosmic radio dial. Hence, symptoms of ‘disconnect’ with different people and situations. Also, our past is linked to the Old world, and the Old is gone. Being in the Now is the way of the New World.

Know ‘seeing’ and ‘hearing’ things is a symptom of experiencing different dimensions as we transition fully. Our range of sensory perception, what we register with familiar and subtler senses, is based on our sensitivity, how we are wired and which dormant systems are coming on line or already activated.

Life may feel topsy-turvy. We are forgetting what we no longer require. Loss of identity means the “Old you” grows quietly inaccessible, like it no longer exists. Clearing old patterns allows us to embody far more light. Rest assured, all is in order.

Another thing: ‘out of body’ (OBE) experiences are increasing. We may feel as though someone is talking, but it is not us. This is our natural defense mechanism of survival when we are under acute stress, trauma or out of control. Easing the transition process, may include tuning out or dissociating from the body. This only short term. It passes. Deep sleep is par for the course. You are resting from all the acclimating and are integrating, as well as building up for the next phase.

As energies shift within, we grow more sensitive to surroundings. Crowds, noise, foods, tech, other human voices and various other stimulations are barely tolerable. Overwhelm happens very easily with overstimulation. We are tuning up. Know this too will pass.

Come what may, rest periods and ‘rebooting’ are required. Each body knows what it needs. Awakening more fully is realizing that as our vibes heighten, reaching the higher realms, ‘doing’ and ‘making things happen’ is obsolete. New energies support the feminine of receiving, creating, self-care and nurturing. Ask the Universe to ‘bring’ it on while savoring life. Alignment happens in heartfelt energies.

Certain intolerances also present for lower vibrational things, reflected in conversation topics, attitudes, societal structures, healing modalities, etc. We may feel ‘sick’ inside, feel alienated. When our vibration is no longer in alignment, we are literally ‘pushed’, to move in new directions, to ‘be’ and create the New. All-the while, our appetite for food and other old consumption diminishes. The body is lightening and changing biochemically.

Suddenly, friends, activities, habits, jobs, life situations fall away. We are evolving beyond the former version of us, and what disappears no longer matches our vibration. The New arrives in parallel with our changing vibes.

Curiously, we absolutely cannot do certain things anymore. Some activities evoke dizziness, queasiness and worse. Fatigue hits. Our body is losing density, going through intense restructuring that physical senses cannot begin to register or understand. The periodic blurring or pixelating of vision is part of this process. Some frequencies leave from scope of consciousness. The range of sound-light received, decoded and transmitted is shifting.

Some people feel urges to eat often along with what feels like attacks of low blood sugar or know weight gain, especially in the abdominal area. Cravings for protein happen. Weight gain with an inability to lose it no matter what you do is one of the most typical experiences. Trust that your body knows what it is doing. It’s another exercise of accepting oneself fully without judgement. This comes with emotional ups and downs, unexpected tears. Our emotions are our outlet for release, and this happens a lot.

That nagging desire to go “Home,” as if everything is over and we don’t belong here anymore is part of the process of returning to Source. Everything is over, the process is done, but many of us are staying to experience and create the New World. Also, our old plans for coming have been completed.

Your ego is losing much of itself and is afraid. Your system is also on overload. Things are happening to you that you may not understand. You are also losing behavior patterns of a lower vibration that you developed for survival in 3D. This may make you feel vulnerable and powerless. The patterns and behaviors we are losing are not needed in the higher realms. This passes into a sense of love, safety and unity.

It may surprise some, but vivid, wild and even violent dreams may stand out. We are releasing many lifetimes of lower vibrational energy. Many are now reporting beautiful blissful dreams too. Our dream state will eventually improve and dreams will be consciously used for new kinds of conscious creation such as interdimensional travel and interactions if this is not a facet of reality already. Some experience deep releasing and travel while awake.

Do not be surprised as plans suddenly change in mid-stream and go in a totally new direction. Soul is balancing out our energy. It usually feels great in this new direction, as our soul knows more than we do.

Some of us feel we created very difficult situations, with many ‘worst nightmare’ aspects to it. Soul is guiding us to ‘stretch’ into aspects of self where we were imbalanced, or into ‘toning down’ aspects where we were a bit over-the-top. Our energy is re-balancing itself. Finding our way to peace through this situation is the test we have set up for ourselves.

Come what may, each of us has created our unique journey, and our soul would not have set it up if we could not handle it. We are the one who finds our way out and so it is already done. Looking back, we are grateful and appreciate every twist and turn, emerging as the best version of ourselves, a very different being.

– Liara Covert

Meet me where I am at – Tara Shannon

There’s something you need to know

To understand

From someone who’s been there

And will be again…

In a place of overwhelming sadness

Of grief

Fear, worry

…and anxiety

Stuck

In this moment that can last a short time

Or go on for days

Or weeks

Months

Even years

In these moments

These times

This — this is where I’m at

All cylinders firing

Trying as best I can

Just to get by

Moment by moment

Day by day

And when I’m here

I’m not going to reach out

I’m just not

At least not yet

I’m not ready

I’m too busy

Too overwhelmed in the process of being and trying to find my way

To begin healing and searching out that speck of light in the dark that will hopefully begin guiding me out

So, no

I’m not going to reach out

But you

You… can reach in

And meet me where I’m at

Meet me with a gentle presence

With patience

No pressure

With empathy and care

And no expectations

Reach in

And don’t be upset when I don’t reach back

But

Do keep reaching in

Saying “hello”

“I’m thinking of you”

That’s enough

I know you’re there

And I love you for it

Even if I don’t say the words out loud

One day I will

When the weight of my world feels less heavy

After the sun has found its way in through the cracks

One day

You’ll reach in

And

I’ll reach back

~Tara Shannon

~ Art by Hayk Shalunts