Who you *really* are has less to do with how hard life can be, and everything to do with the light you’re here to bring. Read this spiritual poem to feel like all is well, underneath all the noise and heartache. It'll remind you that joy doesn't just happen: it comes from within, through you into the world. And it's why you're here.

“I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart. I am. I am. I am.” – Sylvia Plath

I am (a Spiritual Poem)

Sometimes I think the world outside

Is the only place where joy resides.

I place my faith there,

But then I can see

The suffering inside

When I close my eyes,

And to my surprise,

It’s exactly the same size

As the world of hurt out there.

The pain I see

Reflects back to me,

Directly and proportionally,

And it becomes my life quickly

If I don’t soon recall who I am.

I am:

The stillness inside

That recognizes

The silence outside;

The peace I see

That comes through me.

This is who I am:

The rest between two breaths

And the space between each step;

The width of the sky

And the depth of the sea;

The invisible link between you and me.

I am:

The calm in the middle

Of a storm,

And the formless place

Where the storm was born;

The realm where there is no

“You and Me.”

This is who I am:

No race, no gender,

No religion, no age–

I am everything and nothing

All on the same page.

The space inside

Is where the joy comes alive,

And enters the world I see

With these eyes.

The suffering I bear witness to

Is a spoke in the wheel of life.

There is a core of peace

At the center of me,

And there, there is no strife.

This place calls me to be

A light the world needs,

And to not take to heart

Its false beliefs.

Taking on the world’s problems

Is not how I show I care,

For that will only lead me, too,

To despair.

I pay tribute to life

By heeding those calls

From within.

This is how I put loving energy

Into the air.

This is how I make

Strangers into kin.

I am guided by the wisdom

Of my heart,

My inner teachings and truth,

Where it all starts.

Feeding pain as my own child

Will only fuel yours.

I open a new door

And become a vehicle for more

Than the suffering we see

In the world.

A new world order

Calls within you,

And within me, too.

It speaks not of two–

There is no “me and you”–

It recognizes there is just one

Who can heal

The world we know so well.

When I am in that place in me,

I cannot fail,

Because

I am.

The rest is just details.

. . .

Tell me:

Which part of this poem did you need to read today?

Tell me in the comments. I read every single one, and I'd love to know!

With love,

Jen 

P.S. Want to celebrate this season with something you can hold? Go visit my shop for prints of handwritten poems and other words of hope and heart. If you ever forget what a gift it is to be here at all, you'll have something to remind you. Something to hold on to.