Aloe Imagined
“Aloe Imagined”
We survive between war torn cracks and unbound insolence. “We the People”, the dried wispy remains are all that is left from centuries of imbalance with nature.
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And yet, climbing out through crumbling rock, the echo of truth tendrils, fight its way to the surface, never stopping, like the desire for forgiveness pushing up past dark caverns of fear searching for light; roots wrapping, firmly grounded and bound to all that is.
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There is always the choice to ‘become’ again, like the thick fleshy succulents. To nourish ourselves with the milk of each others love; so much in fluid reserve that even in thin times we create a soft salve of wholeness; nutritious and bountiful, to spread over the world, igniting blooms of grace and beauty where all manor of aliveness may partake.
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Resonant food for starving hearts, dying from a diet lacking in truth, fraught with misuse and underestimation.
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We can choose to be the givers, not the takers of the world; as antiseptic and pliable as aloe, and become natural food, no longer resisting the soft strength of the earth we are made from.
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We could put down the gun and wicked pen and wash our minds of obsession and myth, and reach instead for seed and shovel, to grow ourselves whole by our own rule of light, refusing access to killers of dreams and freedom.
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This code of unity could connect us to sacred balance, becoming one at last with the earth and all she allows us to become.
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I was walking my dog the other day and realized I’d become frustrated with all his sniffing. I like to take him to an off leash area close by so he can roam for a while. To do so, I walk a certain path past a nice looking hotel, down a lot and up a hill before I reach this designated area but it was taking forever to get there, because the dog wanted to stop every few yards to sniff something.
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And then it hit me: My mind was already at the park, while my dear little pup was quite present, enjoying himself with every step and smell. How many of us are already somewhere other than the present? Our minds have already taken a position, decided an outcome, outlook or answer without any actual facts.
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Our bodies try so hard to put everything life offers, into nice comfy arrangements so it can feel secure. It is really quite an ingenious trick the mind has to try and control things so that life may (seemingly) go on smoothly. Alas, much as we’d like to think so, we do not have this power.
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For so many of us the freedom to just be, can get lost in too much thinking. Slowing down and noticing we are on autopilot allows us to unhook and find that place which is our birthright, tapping into who and what we really are.
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This modern world can run us ragged if we allow it, but we have within us the choice to take another look at how we go about things. We can enjoy, for instance, the short walk to the grocer by taking in the beautiful sky, or feeling of our footfall on the earth as each one lifts and returns to the ground passing from grass to dirt to concrete along the way. We can even do our taxes with mindfulness and the gratitude that we even have the gift of work.
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So, remember the joy in the journey. Even in the tough places there are spaces of respite. With friends, nature and even (or perhaps especially), while walking your dog. While you’re on your way in life, whatever your goals, choose to be emotionally pain free today. Win the olympics of your own life and practice living each moment with heart.
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It’s funny how the desire for something to be different than what is can be so unsettling. But in allowing in the realization of how futile the attempt to control is, something else happens too. There is a new view that materializes with letting go; one of both freedom and sadness. Freedom, because you finally accept some things are just not up to you. And sadness, because of what could be, or, more precisely, what the mind thinks could be.
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Living in the center of one’s self allows us to have compassion for others. Yes, we feel the sorrow and tragedy of the world, but also we know that our true selves, the truth of our whole being is founded in love, grace and beauty. So if we walk the path with this as our ‘true north”, much of life can be lived with awareness, and this allows us to be of better use to the world, and to those we love. And perhaps, even to those we don’t.
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I thank my little dog for showing me that. For showing me that the only thing that is happening, the only thing that is real, is right now. And to find gentle joy in the doing; not in the wonder, hope or the desire of what tomorrow might bring, or the next day or even the next moment, but life, full on. as it is.
Remembering Global Oppression Everywhere and sending light and love into the darkness, so that all may live in light.
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May it be be so.
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Perhaps you might wish to take a moment to ponder your own inner light... where it comes from. How blessed we are to be here right now. Today.
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And, maybe consider your family (both genetic as well as the powerful family we have made for ourselves, culled together from honesty and vulnerability); friendships in the truest sense of the word.
Settle again now for a moment, on those friends and loved ones whose physical presence we have lost. Think even of the ancestors you come from, for they are all with you, in you, living right now in your timeless heart... and yes, even helping you through difficulties and celebrating your joys. We, all of us, have an energetic line to love that can never be taken away, so that those we’ve lost physically yet live on... in us. It does a heart well to think on them and thank them now and again. To truly live this life, is to do honor to this love we have so gracefully been given.
Artwork: “Aloe Imagined” by Drew
& all photographs are my own.
All Rights Reserved
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May all beings know peace.
#blessup ✌🏽






My dog sure does live in the moment (sniffing everything his little nose finds interesting)! Sometimes I try to predict what he’ll smell next. . 🧐 🤪 One of the best life teachers I’ve ever had!
Oh so beautiful poetry!!!