The greatest gift possible arrives by no other means
than my own inner honoring to get to the bottom,
as much as I am able, of my own inner swamp,
so that I might arrive, at long last,
in the clarity of my own inner light.
I can think of no person who could do this for me,
for if they could, I surely would have discovered them
early on.
Arriving at the heart of this quest has taken years,
for there is no shortcut. There is only awareness—
allowed, then revealed—of the source of my own suffering.
Nobody else has ever known its depths. Nobody ever could.
Each of us is mired in unfathomable layers of deception.
It is the way we move forward in life that too often asks
more of us than we are able to give.
Nobody’s fault.
Life here on Earth requires attention in too many directions
for one person to possibly attend to. And so we learn stillness—
if we honor its importance—so that we might discover calm
amidst the daily storms that assault our finer senses.
We learn about ourselves first. Then we are able to develop
a deep alliance with others of our kind, for we know the difficulty
of moving through challenge. This alliance is called compassion.
It is not something we receive because we want to.
We earn it by acknowledging not only our light,
but our deepest denials and disgraces—
emotions we would rather not feel, and so we sideline them
in the deepest vaults of our being.
But there is always a reckoning. You know this
if you have lived long enough. Then the process becomes one
of unclenching, of uncovering, of discovering the hidden miseries
that plague us all.
And then—using our cultivated hearts—we learn to love ourselves
enough into wholeness. Into peace.
Mahukona ~ bj 2026
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Thank you for sharing your cultivated heart, and the means by which you achieve that. Love reading your thoughts.
I really appreciate you reading what I post! Deep thanks, and happy new year to you! 🙏♥️
Unclenching. That is the perfect description. (K)
I don’t know why that word popped in, but you’re right, it does make way too much sense! 🙏♥️
Then, this morning with sun shining on the so very white snow
I feel that peace depicted in your last stanza and picture.
Miriam
I am glad to see you back on WordPress, Miriam! And happy that my words conveyed peace to you.
Blessings in this new year! 🙏🎈💕
Dear Bela, a wonderful poem, just right for me now. I also read it to my wife, who is recovering from major heart surgery (7 hours; late November last year). She appreciated it, very much so, as recovery is difficult and will take months. The line:
Arriving at the heart of this quest has taken years,
for there is no shortcut
resonated with her; deeply poignant.
I have kept up with your posts as best I can. Happy New Year, to you and those you love. 🤗🙇♂️🌿
Mahalo, Ashley. Wow, a seven hour surgery. That was/is a lifetime journey in itself. Please send her my best wishes! And all the best in the new year to you both. 🙏🌺💗
🤗❤️🙇♂️
I was reading earlier today an (online) article about loving-kindness meditation. Seems a natural partner to what you write.
Yes. It is. Thanks for your recognition, Paul. 🙏❤️