I’m learning how to experience joy without
my broken heart fearing that the experience will be taken from me before I can feel it fully
To feel the elation without it immediately triggering tears of mourning
It’s difficult and beautiful learning how to become whole again
-gws
I want to live in a cabin between the woods and the sea
I want to smell mossy earth and pine resin at daybreak
Wood smoke and salt air at sunset
I want to be surrounded by books and filtered sunlight
Candles, blank pages, and moonlight
I want to walk with hopes by day
And dance with dreams by night
I want to watch banana slugs explore my garden
I want to hear the chorus of crashing waves
Gulls crying exultantly from the sky
Wind playing chase through the cypress boughs
I want to be free of the chains of expectations
Free of the weight of the looming other shoe
I wish not to drink from any more bitter cups
Fall on any more swords
Remove twisted daggers from my back
I crave peace
Beauty
Lightness
Hope
Creativity
Freedom
I crave relationships that are mutually supportive
That nurture souls
That transact in honesty
Respectfulness
Genuineness
Ease
Love
-gws
Not everyday will be warmed by the sun
And not everyday will be dampened by rain
Some days we triumph
And some days we feel the sting of disappointment
Everyday dawns with infinite possibilities
Everyday grants an unblemished fresh start
Sit at the junction between waking and dreaming a while
And stare at the dawning of possibility
Breaking over the horizon
And when you greet the world each morning
Let the hope of infinite paths
Energize your curious being
To discover the greatness that awaits you
-gws
I hope that when I One day Write my memoir I have learned How to be happy -gws
If wishes were grains of sand I'd own beach front property If hopes were shooting stars Every night would be the Perseids If dreams were glitter I'd be a drag queen on a Saturday night If fairy tales were real True love's kiss would have delivered me from my waking trials But I do not live at the beach Or sleep below a light-streaked sky I do not glitter on a stage And there is no magical happy ever after I, instead, walk moment to moment Doing my best to keep my feet I rub weariness from my eyes And sadness from my heart And despite myself, I continue to wish and hope and dream Because my dreamer's heart is more stubborn than my jaded mind -gws
Be where your feet are. Take note of the air moving in and out of your lungs. Be still enough to hear the rhythmic ticking of the clock. These will tether you when you feel you are on unstable ground. And love. Share it. Receive it. Keep your heart open so you can recognize it. It will help hope stay afloat. -gws
When my heart is heavy I turn to you
I know you are there
waiting for me with open arms
offering comfort, love, serenity
I know you cannot remove my trials
I also know that you can help lighten the load by taking my tears
my sorrows
my angers, resentments, and animosities
you do not judge me for my smallness or my pettiness
you do not scold me for not making the next right choice
you love me
you hold my hurt like a mother does a child and kiss it away
the injury remains, but the sting is less
because your love is a salve like no other
you gift me with words and inspiration
so that I can bare my soul’s truth into the light
and start to let it go so that I am not transfigured
by my own anger and sorrow
you take my heartache and hand me joy
and you do it while reminding me that every day’s sunset
makes way for the next morning’s dawn where hope is born anew
-gws
Words Wishes and Wisdom 