Now

It would seem to me that at some point in one's life there comes a realization that what one has done all their lives, or even more so the life we've dedicated ourselves to, begins to pose the question: is this all there is? This doesn't mean that what has been done heretofore is no longer of worth. It's simply that the first half (or so) of our life we pretty much choose vocations, lifestyle, outward persona according to a set of societal expectations. Then gradually and quietly new thoughts and expectations for ourselves that we never dared entertain begin to become more and more insistent and pervasive. Our real self is tired of taking the suggested congested road more traveled. We daringly take a baby step into an unexperienced , ( but so familiar in some deep recess of ourself), vista and life begins to change. From that first step we retreat again to life
as it has been...familiar, safe, manageable...but now with a sense that returns uncalled of something missing and the inner soul finds the crack in the shell of self-protection and becomes a promoter of an iconoclast of the status quo.

There comes a day when declaring a difference in world view and self that releases a deep, evolving wonder and there is a joy in getting up in the morning not unlike the dew and sun filled days of early youth. One knows there is no going back and that is a good thing because new birth has arrived. There's a wonderful reason to proceed into the new unmapped territory, but none to go back to the limited self. Only this moment, this time, this exploration is important. What this moment contains is the building materials for the foundation of new growth for the remainder of life and it is ALL good. The soul has been recognized and acknowledged and can finally breathe.