For years I believed I must be, do or have this, that or the other thing before my real life could begin. Then I realized that it’s only me who is waiting; the universe waits for no one.

The path appeared as an opening to nowhere in particular, beckoning me to shed my armor and venture forth. Braced against the wind of resistance, I stepped tentatively forward and leaned into the first turn, breathing in love and exhaling fear. Winding and complex, the path meandered in and out of trees standing tall, rooted, and alongside flowing waters.

With each step forward, stagnant fantasies of safety and the emotional weight of blame and shame dislodged, detached, and disappeared into the shadows of some distant past.

I became transformed by timeless encounters of the heart that reached to infinity, by an enlivened experience that deepened with every moment; by the reality of my own waking dream.

I walked on fearlessly, joyfully; content to have found home… at last.