This past weekend I had the beautiful fortune of celebrating my Soul Sistar's 40th Birthday with a collection of individuals I adore to the core of the earth, some of whom I have known since my 20s. As I look back on the chapters of my life and contemplate upon how each of these people are woven into the intricate fabric which is my story, I am in awe. How blessed am I to have men and women I have basically grown up with whom I love so deeply?
They know me, and I them. All of it.
They have seen me at my worst and my best, as I have seen them. I know what makes them tick, and where some may be disappointed or appalled at some of their habits, behaviors, or beliefs, we appreciate each other's differences and find each other's idiosyncrasies endearing. Truly.
This is what happens when you risk vulnerability.
We have opened our hearts, bodies, and minds up to one another without judgment (or at least without lasting judgment). We have journeyed into darkness together to find the light. We have soaked together naked in bathtubs and hot springs, in rivers, and each other's stories. We have been out of our minds sledding and had kundalini experiences in a garage that functioned as a home for a while. We worshipped each other by sharing time gathering wood, traveling across the country, witnessing 6 ft long rattlesnakes, drumming in circles after potlucks where we prayed in backyards before eating. We dreamed up dances to celebrate spring and attuned to the energies in our hands. We healed each other with fire, smoke, prayers, breath, tears, and time.
As the years have pulsed on and we have found other rhythms and adventures, the resonance of our hearts continues to keep the beat, and when we see each other we rest in each other's arms and presence as if no space or time had passed. We live within each other.
Leaving the gathering Saturday night I looked to one of my friends and said, "We are all so weird, wonderful, and unique. I love all of us."
We are the people unafraid to be ourselves. Actually, we may be the people unable to be anything except ourselves. This is a strange and beautiful gift in this world. One many do not understand or appreciate, but to us, we are grateful to have found one another and know that the love we have for each other is eternal, unconditional, and pure.
I bow deeply to these sisters and brothers, and give thanks to creator for surrounding me within a soul nest of weirdos, freaks, gods, and goddesses.
We Are LOVE Made Manifest. Aho!