Listen for Your Ceremonies and Rituals

“When the heart is hard and parched up, come upon me with a shower of mercy.

When grace is lost from life, come with a burst of song.

When tumultuous work raises its din on all sides shutting me out from beyond, come to me, my lord of silence, with thy peace and rest.

When my beggarly heart sits crouched, shut up in a corner, break open the door, my king, and come with the ceremony of a king.

When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one, thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder.”- Rabindranath Tagore

I'm the girl front row, center, hair waving.

"When I was about eight" I've seen myself write or heard myself say for now more than three decades, starting in my mid-twenties, "I wrote stories about birds." This comes at me so significantly now, it's as if  there is a string of trumpets playing behind me as I write this statement once again. We find our true paths so early in life, yet can also get so incredibly and easily lost, however, I believe with all my bird writing heart that we never fall off that perfectly designed path. It is lit in shining rubies and spotlights, geared for our eyes to see and through love we continue on its way. And as we go, people we meet remind us to stay on that shockingly perfect path. Everyone speaks the truth to us, and "those who have ears to hear" wake up and listen.

Two weeks ago, my daughter, Leila, announced she was going to write a book and she would do so by writing five pages a day similar to Stephen King's seven day ritual. And she asked me would I like to write together? My first reaction was "no", and only because I knew us sitting together would bring out my "chatty Kathy" persona. Then I thought about it and why couldn't we write together- she at her apartment, and me at mine? So I asked this of her and our writing lives together began.

And it has unloosened my world.

We write at 10 am, six days a week, changing this only when jobs demand, and noon on Sundays. How can I tell you how much I have needed a writing buddy? It creates a sacred space watching over me, soothing the frustrations and sorrow. If I need to stop and cry or pray for help, I do so, knowing Leila is swimming in her own discovery, too.

Leila and I on our first Mother's Day in 1984.

I've been going through the files I have on this laptop (oh the files lost from old computers and years of disorganization and chaotic doubt!) and the words are coming toward me, tattered and hungry, but alive. And the handwritten work (thankful!) I still have and now I see and can touch the manuscript ideas I have carried in gestation for nearly a decade, some older, others newer such as the ones about my mother and my journey since 2007. Leila is unstoppable. She writes until she gets those five pages. Her exploration lighting her path, reminding me of another Tagore line from his poem "Farewell" that reads, "Now the day has dawned and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out. A summons has come and I am ready for my journey."

I've been shown such mercy. I am filled with thankfulness this morning as I write and staying awake and on my path is my only task. The rest will be made clear.

I am a Reiki practitioner and last week, I was communicating with Elaine Clayton about building my Reiki practice. Her words return to me now as I establish not only this service, but my talent and equal offering as a writer, as well. "Doors will open," wrote Elaine, "I perceive a monk guide working with you. As if he were to say, 'Tend your garden and the right door will open.' Cool!"

To oversee my garden, what an honor! To be in the presence of love, what mercy. Let the hot coals be placed on my lips, Seraphim. I thank you. Clean, I write with Leila at 10.

Sheela Wolford lives in Brooklyn, NY. She is writing about her mother and her relationship, as well as putting down a slew of poems themed from Jesus's Parables, and last but assuredly not least, she is penning her hiccup salvation occurring from 2007 to 2010, give or take a few years, okay up to the present. She is also a Reiki I & II practitioner and can be reached at Sheela Wolford, Reiki practitioner or at wolfordfindyourvoice@gmail.com. Her daughter can be reached at Leila on Life.