Sunrise Breathing

I awoke to a beautiful sunrise peeking through my curtains. The pinks were showing off so I peeled the cloth open to watch the changing of colors. Sleepily I lay my head on my pillow to stare in awe and wonder why I keep waking up so early on these should-be sleepy summer days.

Might as well enjoy it, so I tip toe down our old creaky stairs to greet my Aussie. She follows me religiously to the backdoor and I open to let her out. Peeking my head out to the yard I think, there must be something for me in these wee hours of day break?

I play games with God like this sometimes. If there’s a magical moment I am to witness, then there would be a purpose of this unruly awake-ness. So I survey the grounds for a baby deer or a still awake owl, but I don’t see anything.

I forgot to make coffee, so I head to the sink to fill the pot. Snagging what feels like the right mug for the day, but only time will tell, my dog rushes past me to steal my usual morning spot. She also likes to play games.

Once I pet her belly and coax her over I survey the books I’m in the middle of. Why I can’t finish one at a time? My journal strewn on the table and my computer at my finger tips, how do I want to use this quiet morning? Maybe I am supposed to read something to catch my heart that will be life changing? (See, more games).

I pick up where I left yesterday and contemplate all this wise author has to say, her words have an effect on me. A soft close of the book and my eyes follow suit, a poem begins in my head. So I open my eyes and write it down. And then I write two more.

Should I share these? The opening of a chapter perhaps? Are they just for me? Questions of their purpose roll around in my brain, and so I re-read them. They might not be as good once I read them again.

They feel like a breath, after holding my breath for too long. They are like breath prayers. Maybe that’s why I’m awake? To breathe. And remind others it’s okay to breathe too.

Through words. Images. Prayers. Poems. Togetherness. Nature. Art. Mantras.

A letting go prayer.

An, it’s okay that it’s not okay prayer.

A you are not alone prayer.

These are the simplest of all prayers but to the weary soul, maybe they are the olive branch.

And so we breathe together and imagine the falling away of what holds us too tight. Seeing the space that this letting go brings, we remember that we are human. As the pink and yellow stretch out across the sky, the sunrise echoes this sentiment. A new day has arrived. We can open up to it in the way that we choose.

And so we let our air out, releasing what is, so that we can breathe again.

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Awake to morning light

For a new day beckons

Put away the tangling

Let loose the knotted words

Unravel a new picture

Of sky and bread and laughter

There is more to the journey than strife

See a clearing in the forest ahead

Take your feet prone to wander

For it leads to still waters

Don’t you long for a drink?

Listen, the birds are speaking

“Nothing is too difficult for thee

Unload what you carry

Breathe and then see

There is a new story weaving.”