How I Feel

How I Feel- Wax Tailor

"Feeling Good"- Nina Simone

Birds flyin' high, you know how I feel
Sun in the sky, you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by, you know how I feel
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me.
Yeah, it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me, ooooooooh...
And I'm feelin' good.

Fish in the sea, you know how I feel
River runnin' free, you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree, you know how I feel
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me,
And I'm feelin' good

Dragonfly out in the sun, you know what I mean, don't you know,
Butterflies all havin' fun, you know what I mean.
Sleep in peace when day is done: that's what I mean,
And this old world is a new world and a bold world for me...

Stars when you shine, you know how I feel
Scent of the pine, you know how I feel
Yeah, freedom is mine, and I know how I feel..
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me
[scat]
And I'm feelin'... good.

How Does One Become a Butterfly?

Her whole insides leapt.

"Butterfly-that word," she thought.

"Tell me, sir, what is a butterfly?"

"It's what you are meant to become.  

It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth to heaven.

It drinks only nectar fromt he flowers and carries the seeds of love 

from one flower to another.

Without butterflies the world would soon have few flowers."

"It can't be true!" gasped [the caterpillar].

"How can I believe there's a butterfly inside you or me 

when all I see is a fuzzy worm?"

"How does one become a butterfly? she asked pensvely.

"You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar."

"You mean to die?" asked [the caterpillar], remembering the three 

that fell out of the sky.

"Yes and No," he answered.

"What looks like you will die but what's really you will still live.

Life is changed, not taken away.  Isn't that different from those who 

die without ever becoming butterflies?" 

...

"It's a big step since you can never return to caterpillar life.

During the change, it will seem to you or to anyone who might peek that nothing is happening--but 

the butterfly is already becoming.

It just takes time!"

From Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus

The Invitation

The Invitation

by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for, and
if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow,
if you have been opened by life's betrayals or
have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain!

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,
without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own,
if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be
careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself;
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every
day, and if you can source your life from God's presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes"!

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.