The Wind picked up.

I feel it in my bones.

The rush of Air lifts my hair. Electrifying my scalp and tangling my trendles.

The warm breath from the Sky recharges me, I feel the magic at my fingertips.

The Sky deepens her gaze from dark blue to deep gray.

Quickly, the clouds become swollen and pregnant. With a flash of light and thunder at the snap of her fingers, the Sky’s eyes open and empty upon us.

Thick cleansing tears sparkle and fall around me.

The smells of Earth and Life spring forth.

I breathe deep, drawing in the Wind and Rain.

My clothes soaked, my lungs filled anew, and my body tingling, I let the old fall away.

I am cleansed. I am baptized. I am filled with Magic.

I am grateful.

In the silent stillness, I can hear the Trees whispering.

Their secrets are crucial.

I stop on the trail, sit back on my heels, and do my best to listen.

Laying in the snow, held by the cold depth of the bank,

I look up.

Big sparkly flakes are falling from the sky.

The wind blowing them in a silent choreographed dance.

Mesmerizing. 

They melt on my face and wash away the tears.

This place, the place I call home, is magical.

I soften into the moment and breathe.

Letting go of the breath I had been holding in, I open my eyes.

The beautiful vastness of the Lake is before me.

Sometimes she rages with whitecaps and fierce currents. Today, she caresses the sand with her gentle lapping. Inviting me into her open embrace.

It’s early morning the Sun is already hot.

I drop my dress and wade in. Diving under, the cold hits me, opening my brain, my soul, my being. Engulfed, my skin is tingling, my lungs are bursting, and my hair is flowing.

I stay under and swim out. Turning over to my back, I slowly float to the surface.

My face toward the sky, I am encased in a wet, living body. A deep place full of life and death. She holds me, and I am safe.

I stand, belly-deep, swaying with the waves. Breathing. She is spread out wide, loving, and comforting.

Within her embrace, with the drops of her running down my body, I am washed.

Letting the waves of the Lake rock me, I watch the Moon.

I am drifting as she rises.

She grows larger. A sacred luminous figure in the Sky.

Watching her rise, I am reminded that like the Moon, life is about phases.

Sometimes I am full, brimming with love and possibilities.

Sometimes I am dark, starting anew, invisible, and faded. Lost to the brilliance of the Stars.

But always waxing and waning.

I stand in the water and turn my back to the shore.

Alone with the Moon, I tell her all my secrets and wishes.

I tell her of my love and my loss. My hopes and my fears. I open wide to her.

Though she is silent, I know she understands. 

She has been witness to countless pleas like mine since the beginning of time.

In that living confessional, I open my palms and send her my prayers.

We agree, 

I will release fear.

I will release doubt.

I will release all that does not serve me.

I thank her and turn back to the shore.

Lighter and blessed, I step out of the water full like her.