Just what in life will you bring? 

I have a better understanding of where I am going

After what I have been through

Experience teaches us you don’t love a woman because she’s beautiful

She’s beautiful because you love her – true

I trust in Lao Tzu

On Ways to flourish

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength

While loving someone deeply gives you courage”

Having a good heart

And knowing how to use

If love is the beauty of the soul

Then the only question is how and when do we choose?

Time and effort are needed

To cultivate the art of the soul

How do you measure your success?

How do you pay the toll?

Make a decision

Live by the will

If you pass the Rubicon

Only your doubt will stand still

Life is a mystery

But if I am certain of anything

It is better to give than it is to receive

Just what in life will you bring? 

DCG

The journey of the forsaken 

The journey of the forsaken

As children, they learn to self soothe

After years of neglect

Predisposed to seek validation, forever having to prove

A forsaken child

A silent crime

The pain and suffering

They withhold the signs

Someone will break the cycle

Someone will break the chain

Some will hide away

Always having to endure the pain

When the most powerful human emotion

Is suppressed and shoved into a closed box

When you can’t express love

And treat your children like they have smallpox

Given the severity

You may have to self regulate

Trick your nervous system

In order to satiate

In the self-imposed prison we call trauma

We are the inmate and simultaneously the guard

Never knowing we hold the keys to the cell

And the keys to the yard

It might take decades

Or maybe some therapy

Before we unleash the Kraken

Into the social emotional sea

You may fear rejection

You may fear intimacy

You may shut out the world around you

You may avoid any reciprocity

Do you feel unworthy?

Do you feel shame?

Do you push away emotionally available people?

And then tell them that you are to blame?

Many never see their attachment style

Dismissive-avoidant, anxious- attachment, fearful-avoidant and the like

Many won’t climb the mountain of self reflection

Many won’t take this hike

Change is possible

We can recalibrate a deep trauma of emotional recovery

From pain to loneliness to forgiveness to courage 

Now it is only me that has to open up and see

DCG

It warms my heart 

It warms my heart

When you express yourself to me

The excitement of a new job

A new opportunity

Not sure why I seek this connection

I seem to be drawn to you

I yearn to be close

Another déjà vu

Been three months since New Year’s days eve

It was such a great night

But I’m not sure what to believe

From the day I took notice

You have been in my heart and on my mind

Only wanting to know you better

But I think there were things about yourself you didn’t want me to find.

Did I form a trauma bond?

Or was it more than hypnotic empathy?

The connection for me was real

If I misunderstood, then please forgive me 

I do find joy in the feelings that you share

Your well-being means something to me

What is hard is that I see the internal conflict

And then I also see you respond positively

I know if you wanted something more

You would let me know

Whether you consider me a friend

Or whether you consider me a beau

RSP

DCG

And so goes our training

Sometimes we have feelings

That we don’t know how to share

But if you put them under lock and key

You’ll never know if they will care

Use it as motivation

Perspective can balance the soul

Move forward

Let this be a goal

Sometimes we have a flood of emotion

Too strong or too soon to bare

This may guarantee rejection

I think we’ve all been there

Some give up

Some never stop

Repeat the same mistakes

Continue to flop

We are the curator of our own exhibitions

Malaise to malcontent, malady to mischief

That at some point

We must employ the handkerchief

And so goes our training

In the social bonds that we make

 Using our pleasantries, physical attributes and our charms

That we bake into the cake

These recipes will surely vary

It will be tested, and you must sample 

Now you have to find a good customer

One that is compatible as an example

RSP

DCG

True beauty never changes 

True beauty, never changes

Only in our experience that we observe, we may realize

The Sufi’s describe this to see “the face of God“

When the mind can filter and allow us to recognize

It’s one thing to view a beautiful sunset over the ocean

And another to look upon someone you love

One by grace from God

One a relationship as a hand fits into a glove

Are they gifts? 

Or is one a dance?

A recognition?

A happenstance?

Beauty can be found almost anywhere

For those who are blessed to see

Even in the mind of the blind

If you touch, you can feel, if you hear than you too, will be!

You might ask how I come to know this

What doctrine, what Mystic, what Sage do I believe?

I only know in my own experience

When I give of myself I will receive

I am not at the center of the universe

I can see the beauty in helping others in need

The Centurion Longanus, who stuck the spear into Jesus on the cross

Had his sight restored as he watched the Christ bleed

DCG

But the thing to remember

Not all situations are ideal

When we make attachments and form a bond

Sometimes we overestimate our feelings

Sometimes we under appreciate those whom we are fond

We may overvalue our feelings

The heart may overcompensate

To desire a connection

A relationship we wish to propagate

So many things can happen

We have missed opportunities

Sometimes we miss the signs

We disrupt our possibilities

But this is what makes life interesting

After all is said and done

You certainly won’t be bored

When we’re always looking for fun

Relationships must be earned

Some you win, some you lose

But the thing to remember

Is that you are the one who must choose

DCG

A one-sided love affair

What have you learned?

What have you lost?

What have you earned?

What was the cost? 

Even the saint

Will feel the burn

When raw emotion erupts

And there is nowhere to turn

Unrequited love

Never reaches an end

No resolution

Of anything you send

You cannot keep

What cannot be kept

Despite all the tears

After you’ve wept

Is there a lesson?

Nothing gained or nothing lost

Was it destiny?

Or was it a coin toss?

Have you ever had?

A one-sided love affair?

Not enough to love you back?

Not enough to care?

Did you open up too much?

What vulnerabilities did you bare?

Did they freeze up and stare?

Please tell me, I dare!

Even through the heartache

Even after the pain

Do you still forgive them?

After the feelings wane?

When timing is everything

And the stars align

You and I collide

Our hearts just may resign

There is no certainty

No formula, no magic potion

For finding love

Or mutual devotion

RSP

DCG

Honesty 

Why do we lie?

Is it difficult to tell the truth?

How do we measure in adulthood?

How do we measure up in our youth?

It takes character and courage to be truthful

We must first solve the problem of self deception

Before we can enter a relationship

When we may battle the fear of rejection

in many cases

It will not be clear

The respect we may earn

Over the judgment that we fear

But this is not to say

we should blurt out everything we think

Sometimes we can acknowledge and elude the truth

Along with a wink

In any example there exists

The fail-safe of humanity

The power of forgiveness

The way to keep our sanity

“Exoneration is not for the sole sake of relieving guilt. But for the sake of the soul we do not want to deplete. My reason to forgive.”

DCG

DCG

When your love becomes a gift 

I was told I fall in love easily

Maybe it’s true and maybe it’s not

at least I can say

I know what I’ve got

Sometimes love can heal

Sometimes love can hurt

Sometimes love is forgiving

Rest assured, the heart will alert

If we stop risking

Taking a leap of faith with our heart

Living life without any love

Is one that is not very smart

You can admire from a distance

Though unrequited you can also love from afar

Unbalanced and clearly not ideal

Still better than to wish upon a falling star

These lessons that we learn

In the canvas of our lifetime

Our hearts will paint a picture

That only our hearts will hear the chime

They say to err is human

To forgive is divine

Take the self and ego out of the equation

Just what will you find?

Reciprocity is a factor

I cannot deny

Our happiness is essential

And this we should not defy

There will be a time

When your love becomes a gift

Unfamiliar to the broken hearts

That will send your own heart adrift

RSP

DCG

We are agents of our destiny

Dealing with adversity

We have to play our hand

When do we fold?

When will we make a stand?

The development of our character

Is not readily given

It is forged through our trials

And for those who do not readily give in

Most parents want what is best for their children

Just how will they prepare?

What behaviors will they model?

Which stories will they share?

For events we cannot control

It may be time for a prayer

I’ve never loved anything more deeply

Than my children who are all now grown

I can only pray they remain safe

As I reach out now over the telephone

We are agents of our destiny

Do we manifest what is returned?

And if this is true

Than what have we earned?

DCG