A Drive Down Memory Lane by Camilla Downs

A Drive Down Memory Lane

Why did the beautiful and fun
memories hurt so badly
Why did her chest feel
heavy and her stomach in knots

The place where she and
her children had spent
seven years of their lives.

The place where her son
spent his young life
from one year old
through eight years old.

Driving past the many sidewalks
and trail where she had taken
walks alone, walks with
just her son, and walks
together as a family.

Driving past the home
her parents had lived in,
the home she and her kids had lived in,
the second home her parents had lived.

Remembering ….. Continue Reading Here …

Poetry: A Drive Down Memory Lane

Lead the Way by Camilla Downs

Musk Thistle #1

“Lead the Way”

I know not what I am doing.

This requires more than
self-confidence could ever provide.

This beckons a confidence not of my self.

A confidence ruled by the force
that causes the musk thistle do what it does.
Sprout, grow, bloom, wither, blow
with the wind, and re-seed.

The force that holds the stars
in the sky and the same force
that grew two beings in my womb.

This beckons a …

Go here to read more …

Poetry: Lead the Way

The Way of Pain by Camilla Downs

“The Way of Pain”

Experience the pain, we must.
Feel the pain, be with the pain,
so as to receive the shining gift
that awaits on the other side
of the pain.

Physical pain, emotional pain,
as long as we push against it,
fight against it, cover it up,
smother it, drown it with
numbing agents, we miss out
on the indescribable beauty
that awaits when we lovingly
embrace it and walk consciously
through it.

Pain is a ….

Poetry and Photography: The Way of Pain

 

The Three Ghosts by Camilla Downs

A Short Story (Inspired by the alchemy from Wednesday nights Alchemist Theatre) Perhaps have your favorite, spooky music playing in the background … And look at the large version of the photo … Pretty COOL!

The Three Ghosts

She opened her eyes and saw three ghost like figures covered in nearly translucent and tattered bed sheets.

Slowly and with thinly veiled fear she approached the first figure. She asked what it had to impart to her.

She intuitively knew she had to lift the sheet to learn the answer. The fear had welled to a point where she knew if something didn’t happen to halt it, the anxiety would overtake her mind.

With trembling hands she delicately and slowly lifted the sheet. With utter surprise and sheer awe she saw that the figure held the message of strength and was only patiently waiting for her to retrieve the gift of Strength.

The figure handed her a black cube which she instinctively knew was to be absorbed by her entire body. “For I will be your strength. It is I who move you to do the things you know not why you are moved to do them. This cube represents the Strength that has always been within your heart.”

Years of “me too” led her to believe she was not strong and should not stand up for what she believed in her heart. By absorbing the gifted cube, she would release all that she had boxed within.

She claimed this gift of Strength and knew it would never leave her.

With an air of conviction she approached the next figure. With much less timid hands she lifted the sheet. This figure revealed to her how ….. Go here to read more …

Short Story: The Three Ghosts

 

Unearthing the Hurt by Camilla Downs

Unearthing the Hurt

She had a dream.
Walking through a
tunnel of books, she saw herself.
Look! Light at the end of the tunnel.

No wait, then … she had a vision.
Walking through a tunnel
of darkness, she saw herself.

She had chosen to
go deep this time.
Chosen to unearth
a hurt buried so
deep, she tricked
herself into believing
it never happened
and was gone forever.

A hurt that caused
her to ….

Go here to read more …

Poetry and Photography: Unearthing the Hurt

 

Liberation by Camilla Downs

Cloud Dancing with Full Moon 2017

Liberation

She was tired.
Tired of trying to figure it out.

Tired of trying to make things work.
Tired of manipulating circumstances
to make things work.
Tired of trying to control situations to make things work.

Tired of living in confusion.
Tired of the suffering
created by way of her thoughts.

Tired of the chains that
bound her to the suffering.
Tired of dragging those
invisible chains through life.

Tired of not loving herself.
Tired of not being loved.
Tired of the responsibility of it all.

Tired of questioning her every decision.
Tired of hiding the Truth from herself.
Tired of running from her own self.

Tired of the darkness within.
Tired of the pull of the ego.

What she craved.
What she desperately needed.
Was … FREEDOM.

In desperation she dropped to her knees.
Crying out to the all knowing,

Take this tired body,
Take this tired mind,
Take this confusion,
Take this suffering,

She let it all go.
She released it to the divine.

She asked for liberation
from her self-induced suffering.

Liberate this soul.
Liberate this heart.

Allow this heart to open.
Allow this heart to
receive and know unconditional love.
Allow this mind to know Clarity.

Liberation to the graceful
place of Knowing Freedom.
Liberation to the Place
of letting go.

Letting Go
And saying Yes
to Life. -©2017 Camilla Downs, Lessons from Nature
(Written in May 2017)

The Light of Freedom by Camilla Downs

The Light of Freedom Poem Tree and Sunshine Photo 8.2017

The Light of Freedom

“It’s time to step into the flames of the fire. The time is now to connect with that which you fear from your past. The past no longer exists and cannot cause you harm. However, when it is avoided and sidestepped; it does indeed cause you harm.

This avoidance and sidestepping keeps you a prisoner of the past and held captive to a perceived smallness. As the flame grows, be still and know that you are not alone. Be still and know it cannot hurt you. It cannot consume you.

By bringing your light to the flames of the fire, it will be extinguished and transformed into the light of freedom.

The freedom to claim your power. The freedom to know who you are. The freedom to shine your light with others.

Be still. And Know.” – 2017, Camilla Downs, The Journal

Shine by Camilla Downs

Tree Sunbeams and Blue Sky with Shine Bright Poem 2017

Shine

Shine bright dear one.
What your brothers
and sisters think
of your shine
matters not.

You see others shine,
and shrink even further
into the smallness of
not shining your light.
Each soul is meant to shine
in their own way
And no two ways will
be exactly the same.

Your shine is dulled by
years and years
of ignoring that
which creates the shine.

Dulled by messages received in childhood,
that you are doing it wrong,
that you don’t know how to do it.

Stories learned in childhood of
how one is supposed to live
how it’s supposed to be done.

The light is ever there.
It has not departed.
You have seen glimpses of it.

To allow the light to shine brightly
you must uncover what you buried
so deeply that you remember not
even having buried it.

What you have buried swings
like a pendulum.
One side, the victim
and the other, the judge.

Uncover it you must.
Face it.
Embrace it.
Know you can no longer
be hurt, or judged.

The vital step
of uncovering, confronting
and releasing cannot be skipped.
Fear has stopped you
from fully uncovering
what has been buried.

Eternal joy cannot be
Unless fear is
embraced by we.
I will face the fear
with you.
You are not alone.

Take my hand
and let us walk
together into
the darkness
and we shall emerge
as one to shine bright
and share love with
the world.

~©March 2017 Camilla Downs, Lessons from Nature