A Walk in the Woods

As I walk on the muddied earth toward the rushing water, surrounded by the broken trees and limbs, the softest voice whispers to me, “remember, child, there is beauty in the broken too. There is beauty in the stillness. There is beauty in the death of something as it becomes something new.”

And in the branches that lay bare and broken, a flutter of life takes wing.

With that flutter, the soft voice speaks, “what else might you find?”

On I walk.

There is a chill in the air, and yet I am warm.

One step follows another and another.

I begin to wonder, should I turn back? Where am I going?

I hesitate, but on I walk.

And suddenly I find that I, myself, flutter alive and take wing to the top of the world.

I follow the flutter.

On I walk.

Step by step, I continue to follow the path back down to the river’s edge.

I bring the top of the world with me as I continue to soar.

I run then I leap.

I jump then I climb.

On I walk.

I crave the touch of the earth and let my feet walk freely on the ground.

My spirit continues to flutter.

How can I be finding lost pieces of myself when I have been seemingly whole?

“The pieces of yourself are never lost - rather, they slumber until you let the life surrounding you flutter your heart and awaken them,” the soft voice whispers.

My spirit continues to flutter. My heart continues to smile.

On I walk.