You Might Not Know My Friends

You might not know my friends when you first meet them. You might not know them ever. But I know them well.

You might know them because you've never seen them, or talked to them, or listened as they tell the stories that make them who they are. Or maybe you have and you just weren't there.

You might not know my friends even if you met them as a child, gone to school with them, shared a house or worked in their store.

You may have spent years right next to them without seeing the friends I see.
I saw them within seconds -- sometimes before we said hello.

Is the same true of your friends?

We might never know.

letting me be, me liz strauss

Zen Sailing with You

Shh. Come with me. I know that you are worried about the weather. Take my hand. It’s okay. I know the way to somewhere special. I have cookies just baked and some hot, sweet tea. Take my hand. Trust my heart. Shh. Come with me.

Can you hear music as we slide through the hallway? It’s on the air only there playing for you and me. Hear the melody, and you’ll know we’re safe as we move through the storm. See the cold rain can’t touch you. Isn’t that something? Shh. Your heart is safe too.

The wonder hasn’t started yet. Shhh. Don’t say anything.

Hear the music. Hold my hand and think of the cookies just baked and the hot, sweet tea that I’m carrying. Across this street, down the stairs, here we go to the lake. No worries the tunnel is friendly and angel safe. See that light at the end there? That’s where we’re going. We’re almost there. Hushhhh. Hear the music. It sounds like the water on the sand. You and I are safe

Oh, look, someone left a perfect sunset, a perfect day for us. How did it get here?

Shhh. Hear the music. Let’s take the sailboat, lay back in the openness, and enjoy the weather.

I have some cookies just baked and some hot, sweet tea. The storms we imagined will wait until we’re ready to see with them. Why waste a perfect time to do sail in the sunset? No one can bother us. You and I are safe and sound. We can feel happiness without worrying.

Shh. Hear the music. It’s on the air only there playing for you and me. See the sunset. It’s in the sky making colors only for us to enjoy and be please. It’s safe to delight and wonder in the beauty and music of a sunset.

I can’t think of a better place than Zen sailing with you, eating cookies just baked and drinking hot, sweet tea.

−me strauss Letting me be

A Wonder

I’ve often thought of how we’re all connected somehow. An invisible thread of silver light as light, thin as air, pulls us like gravity connecting us. It’s the attraction that makes us bump into each other when we’ve gone too, too long without feeling another’s touch, a kind of soul searching, a physical hunger.

Our minds have this, hearts have this. We need to know that we’re not just one, not floating alone in a dark soundless universe. Our souls have this silent sonar turned on to pick up any trace, the slightest move of a kindred spirit that passes near, Should we discover someone who understands, who hears, who knows, the joy is so overwhelming; we’re almost calm with it. Standing and staring, we quietly whisper, “I hope you hear me, when I say this, but . . . you have just made me remember who I am.”

Thank you, thank you. You’re a gift unexpected, − priceless, humbling, inspiring.

For a moment, we’re all of who we are, who we might ever become. The stars wish they could be us.

It’s a wonder.
−me strauss Letting me be