Take Time Alone (by Susan Squellati Florence)

When you take time alone
you discover the path
that goes deep
into yourself.

When you take time alone
you hear the voice
of your heart
speaking in silence.

When you take time alone
you leave the distractions
of the day...
and enter the secret garden
of your soul.

This is where
the deepest part of who you are
awaits you.

This is where
all that you love is blooming.

This, too, is where
your sorrow has been planted...
and unresolved problems
grow like tangled vines.

Be brave enough
and willing to go alone
into the garden
of your self.

You'll see there
all the beautiful parts
of who you are.

Here in the garden
you'll have time to work
the sacred soil
of your inner life.

You can clear the weeds
that have overgrown your dreams
and to nurture them again.

You may uncover
and face the fears
buried long ago.

You may suprised to see
that what is imported to you
has been neglected.

You will water the flowers
of your sadness
and become aware
of their gentle beauty.

You will begin to open up
the gnarled vines of problems
letting light shine through them.

Here in the quite
you will be able to sit
and do nothing
Just breathe.

You may sense you are with
a part of yourself
that you have forgotten
the one who knows
what you want...
not what others want of you.
The one who can listen
the voice within you.

You will be one
with all that you are.

This garden is awaiting you.
Even if it has been untended,
even if you've left it far behind.

Walk into the garden
of your self.

Tend the beautiful parts
of yourself growing there.

Cherish the life
you have been entrusted with.

Plant the seeds
of new hopes and dreams.

Rest and listen
to the deep and joyful song
of your soul.

You will be filled...
not with what you have longed for
but with the absence
of longing itself.