There once was a girl who was vibrant and full of life. She liked being barefoot more than almost anything and had an imagination that could transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. She sang to the trees and cherished the sun which crisped her tender skin in the Summer.
She was a dreamer, this girl. She used her wild imagination to paint a life in the future that was bold, bright, full of color and possibility. Only the expanse of the sky could contain all she dreamed, all she hoped for. It stretched itself wider, a canvas for her to paint on, shimmering with wonder.
As she grew up, the world around the girl seemed to get smaller. Her dreams became less vivid behind the clouds of doubt, fear, shame, guilt and ‘reality’ that started to fill her clear blue sky. She began to feel like Alice, staring at a bottle labeled ‘drink me’… the contents of which would make her small enough to ‘fit’ inside the world around her. She knew she didn’t want to ‘drink what the bottle had to offer (as it were), but she felt she had no choice. Everyone she knew told her it was for her own good, it was what was expected and for the best… she should know better than to dream. Out of her deep desire to belong she bound her mind, using books and words, opinions, beliefs and operating systems to drown out the call of her heart.
She was no longer, but she was somehow still.
Every now and again she would look up, the clouds of doubt and fear would begin to part and she would remember her dreams, she would feel their warmth bringing her back to life, stirring the desire to grow and take up space within her. She would close her eyes as a warm breeze kissed her on the cheek, whispering in her ear, “Remember who you are. Remember who I created you to be… My sweet girl, you were made for so much more…Don’t you remember?”.
Emboldened by The Spirit she began to dream again, to speak to the sky, trying to clear the clouds that had formed over head. But they were thick and heavy, growing darker and more near as she shouted in longing to the sky. “Who do you think you are?” They shouted back… “you are small and insignificant, you are not worthy to speak to the sky. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?” Those words thundered in her chest, shattering her from the inside, breaking her back down.
She was no longer, but she was somehow still…
The girl found places to hide from the clouds and their cruel words, she went inside and rarely ventured out... she believed this would keep her safe. Years passed, the girl missed her sky and the spark inside of herself but she was too afraid to risk the process of becoming.
The sky, who existed outside of time and space, waited. Patiently. Tenderly. It remained behind the clouds the girl had allowed to form around her, hoping one day she would step outside and look up.
