<\/p>\n
When culture does not nourish you
\nthe Soul’s food can only be gotten by standing apart
\naway from
\nat the edge of the forest, solitary<\/p>\n
when the sense of Belonging,
\nthat arises from kinship with the world around you,
\ncrumbles
\nwhen the places and faces you find yourself in, around
\ncannot see or hear you
\nbecause they cannot reflect what they don’t see in themselves
\nyou feel adrift
\nestranged from
\na stranger in a world of strangers<\/p>\n
slowly, then, now
\nit is necessary to re-member yourself
\nback into the fabric of Existence,
\nfor which you are so required
\nso needed and wanted<\/p>\n
it is time to re-member who you are,
\nto whom, to what, you truly belong<\/p>\n
you belong to the words, the images,
\nthe flowers and trees
\nyou belong to the waters of whatever moves you,
\nwhatever needs you
\nwhat calls your heart closer
\nwhat draws you toward it, in joy
\nyou belong to the riverbeds and forests
\nand volcanos of your imagination<\/p>\n
you belong to what calls your Soul onward<\/p>\n
your Calling is tied to your sense of Belonging in the World take your time with this precious self re-member-ing because this is what you have been taught: your purpose, your Calling, is to bring water Stop waiting for the Invitation. This, then, is how to Belong to the World again: So. Claim it now: I am a Poet of the Soul Your Place in the True World- the Real World-<\/em> requires you to claim it<\/p>\n it is not given, a reward for obedience and acquiescence and dis-member-ment to break from the untrue world that forgets anything it cannot <\/em>use and then discard<\/em> say this instead, know it in your viscera, feel it in your bones: stop cursing the Blessing Right here and now, make the ground on which you stand Do this, and you will see that you are Do this, and you will stop looking for water where there is none Do this, and you have finally stopped hesitating and waiting… for validation, recognition, belonging Right now: Call yourself back into your Calling, The post Your Place in the World<\/a> appeared first on Jessica Shepherd<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When culture does not nourish you the Soul\u2019s food can only be gotten by standing apart away from at the edge of the forest, solitary when the sense of Belonging, that arises from kinship with the world around you, crumbles when the places and faces you find yourself in, around cannot see or hear you [\u2026]<\/p>\n The post Your Place in the World<\/a> appeared first on Jessica Shepherd<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nYou Belong to what Calls Your Soul<\/em>
\nand, if you do not follow what truly calls you, you will not feel you belong<\/p>\n
\ndo not curse the solitude that harbors truer answers for you
\ndo not distract yourself from this holy task by constantly checking your email
\nor bemoan the boredom and sickness you deeply feel when you are bored sick of this narrative of Being<\/em><\/p>\n
\npurpose and meaning measured by how you fit into what’s already here<\/em>,
\na master template created for only a small few
\nto forget that everything real is birthed at the edge of darkness & different
\n…this is why you feel so alone, so sad, lost<\/p>\n
\nto whatever is dry, parched, dying
\nto give eyes to those who cannot see what you do
\nto give ears to those who cannot hear what you can
\nwhen so many do not notice: “I notice” is manna
\nwhen so many do not see: “I see” is visionary
\nwhen so many are distracted: “I am here” is angelic
\nto offer yourself, then,
\n-as a Soul Poet, Healer, Artist, Writer, Mother, Lover, Feel-er-
\nto the Beauty of the World
\nand to Recognize Your Self as necessary to it’s very Being<\/p>\n
\nIt will not come. It will never arrive.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nYou must claim your place in it.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nYou don’t chop off your legs to fit into a round hole that has been ready-dug for you to whither and die into
\ninstead, you bend your body with the riverbed
\nbecause this is what fits You
\nYou say, over and over: NO. I will do it like this…<\/em>
\nYou lay with the Stars
\nYou practice Night Vision
\nand when you do, you give water to the parched and starving
\nto those who Soul re-member through you
\nmost vitally, you choose to serve your Soul
\nyou make your Divinity –your Truth<\/em>– your Master<\/p>\n
\nI am a Lover of Beauty
\nI am essential to the Soul of a World so thirsty
\nfor what I have:
\ngifts that hard edges and forests and night terrors and wounded creatures and salty tears have given me<\/p>\n
\n(you do not want that world)
\nit is born of making friends with that particular Darkness of yours,
\nof rejection, abandonment, different-ness, and pain
\nall that is unwanted and unloved
\nall the untrue world refuses to acknowledge as valuable and True
\nand letting it breathe and move through you, as your very lifeblood
\nallowing it to create… nourish…enrich…take you to new places<\/p>\n
\nyou must decide to stop doing to yourself what the world does to you<\/strong>
\n-de-value your: pain, seeing, knowing, feeling-
\nyou must decide to stop criticizing, holding back,
\nstopping yourself right when you are on the brink of genius adventures and discovery
\nYou must decide to stop gaslighting your own sensitive Awareness
\nYour deeply feeling, knowing, Nature
\nYou must decide that you will not be used, and that you will not go away<\/p>\n
\nDarkness has given me Everything that Matters\u00a0<\/em>
\ngifts, abilities, perceptive insight, knowing, a certain gentleness, compassion
\nability to behold Everything in Truth
\nthis leaving nothing out, nothing in the shadows,
\nthis embracing of what’s strange
\nDarkness has given you this<\/p>\n
\nhonor. the. gifts.<\/p>\n
\nSacred and True
\n“I Belong because I Exist”
\nI Am called to creatures, tress, moonlight, Truth, and All of Beauty
\nbecause
\nmy very noticing
\nmy very seeing
\nis necessary for All of Existence<\/p>\n
\nand have always been
\nheld,
\nconnected with,
\napart of,
\nand necessary to
\nbeautifully woven into the fabric of the Universal pattern Itself<\/p>\n
\nBe determined:<\/em>
\nYou will find your own water<\/em>
\nYou will know exactly where to find it exactly when you need it<\/em><\/p>\n
\nyou have simply stopped. waiting.
\nfor you have deemed your Soul’s work Necessary and True
\nand you have firmly, decidedly, claimed your Sacred Place in the World<\/p>\n
\ninto loving all that you Love, with reverent abandonment<\/em>
\nbless Darkness as Teacher, gift-giver of Awareness
\nbless your Self
\nand allow Conscious Universe to welcome you into the greatest sense of Belonging you will ever know<\/p>\n