I will not trust the old life. The shrinking life. The ones who close in on me like a trap. Who tell me what I am fated to and for. I will not get too comfortable here. I will not listen to someone else’s story of me, even if it is flattering. I will not let their seeing become mine. This is blindness. I will not let their words echo through my bones and teeth and skin and hair until their words root as truth in my body. No. I create me. You don’t know anything about the life that lives in here.

We are social creatures. It’s important to have your truth and beauty and light reflected back to you by trusted friends, loved ones. But sometimes those trusted ones change shapes, mistake you for someone else. Sometimes they can only see half truths. Sometimes the trust is misplaced. Wise and sacred ones who are doing the deep work, be careful with the company you keep.

We must take the utmost care in the cavernous depths of our innermost lives. What lives there is velvet, sacred nectar. Something pure and of the soul. Something that is entrusted to you by the Great Universe. A piece of everything. A verse of the Great Song that only you carry. And my dear, we need that verse. Keep it safe. Keep it whole. Keep it holy. Nobody can sing it like you can. Nobody.

I have tasted that fresh nectar song from my well lately. Sweetness that is craved and longed for and holy. So holy. And I am guarding it with my life. I am releasing the ones who cannot, will not, do not have the capacity to protect it with me. This past year has shown me clearly, that when we lean in close, and pull up something from the depths, something shining with light of the soul, that there might be those around us that want to steal what we’ve uncovered. They might say one thing, preach one thing, and do another. They might be sneaky. They might trick even themselves. Lovers, keepers of the sacred nectar, protection is your right and your duty. Bare your teeth. Hold the world in balance.

There are those who want nothing from you. Those who will let you brace against them as you peer over the edge. Those that can see the light reflect on your face. The ones who will look at you anew each day and ask, “who is this person? What light is shining from her today? What new wonder is she incubating?” And they will step back to witness you without need. These are the ones. The ones who will dance beauty around you as you guard the precious drops of soul. The ones who will lend life to your life. The ones who know when to give darkness and space. The ones who trust and delight in who you are becoming. The ones who see you, but not in the way of gaining power over you, but in the way of coaxing forward the young buds into flower. These are the ones. Celebrate them. Hold them close close close.