Joy
The deer is rooted. He is whole. He does not carry yesterday into today, nor borrow tomorrow’s sorrow.
There is anxiety in pain and loss that lingers long after the person or thing has left us.
We fall prey to the temporary seduction of a busy life, believing it will shield us from the anguish of a heart fully breaking—and so, we push on. Relentlessly.
Not realizing that we plant the seeds for a slow and steady decline. The heaviness the mind rehearses occupy precious inner real estate, stealing time, vitality, and joy. As the days, weeks, and months pass, we drift further from the internal fire that once burned with earnest conviction and brightness.
Exhaustion takes hold—mercifully—we are forced to stop. Our heart has had enough, literally and figuratively, and begs us, once and for all, to wrestle with its deep ache. There is no timeline…no way to accelerate this tender and vital process of healing.
The only thing we can do is commit each day to being faithful to this life.
The living metaphors are always the clearest mirror for the soul: the deer foraging for vegetation—laboriously and diligently—straining in his own way. But without the harshness of spirit and the anxiety we weave into life.
The deer is rooted. He is whole. He does not carry yesterday into today, nor borrow tomorrow’s sorrow. He is life.
To give the soul its necessary flight, the one true to the nature of peace, we must allow ourselves to be swept up in nature’s communion. Say “yes” each day to the subtle movements: a leaf rustling against a backdrop of stillness, a flower blooming, a bee buzzing, the sound of the white-crowned sparrow singing.
These are the antidotes to a burdened mind—a place where pain and heartache can be put into perspective and absorbed.
The tiredness in your soul will dissipate; your new instinct will emerge from the ashes. She has been waiting for you all along. Her name is Joy.
