Inner growth happens in spurts
Like growth spurts in a teenager
They come with time, introspection and experience
Inner Growth cannot be forced.
It comes of its own accord
When we are in tune with it.
It comes like a light bulb, illuminating the dark corners of our minds.
It is exhilarating and we cling to it
Like a drowning person to a life raft
Hoping it will get us closer to shore.
What is the shore? It is full enlightenment.
What is full enlightenment? It is truth.
Truth about ourselves, about others and the world around us.
Growth can guide our thoughts, motives, and actions.
It is there for the picking, if we want to take the time.
I feel powerful when birds fly away,
I approach– they erupt!
My agency clear on display,
To my illusive control,
I’m amused they obey,
It’s time’s dualistic dance,
of predator and prey,
Self awakens through others,
All becomes One, as we play,
I’m imprinting the present,
When I walk out of my way,
A flock by emergence,
Patterns form, never to stay,
Co-creating a moment,
Spikes spice into my day,
I feel so powerful,
When birds fly away.
When I stopped
taking Sertraline
again,
I felt too much
all at once
including
a cacophony
of anxiety
I hate to acknowledge
that even I
need a little help
to get by
I didn’t choose my mind
in the lottery of life
I decide what I put
In my body,
everyday
grapefruit juice
for health,
avocados
because
I love
their shade
of green,
and meat
because
I crave
meat
what I choose
to put in my mouth
directly affects
everything
all my little,
daily outcomes
don’t seduce me
as much as you,
sexy Devil
little pills can do so much
I don’t want
to tap dance with the Devil
when I should be sleeping
Enter now, the quiet chambers of your mind.
Continue through the doorway of wisdom & deep Intelligence. Close the door behind you.
Now you are home.
How does blindness come to be selected
As if the choice was a benefit
How does blindness become selective
As if we know what's best for us... or anyone
How can the knowing become unknown
As if creation is ours alone
How can the unknown become acceptable to the blind
When blindness was the choice
Blindness to our faults
prevents us understanding
those faults in others
Allow the energy to move.
Don’t think about where it’s going.
Trust that it will come at the right time,
in the right way.
Be sensitive.
The most progress in your life will happen
once you start to let go.
The more you do that,
the more you’ll enjoy the process
of yourself becoming an awakened being.
The letting go will never end—
especially when you begin
to understand your self-worth.
The being is always progressing,
and the process is forever changing.
You don’t have to know when—
you just need to acknowledge
that it’s happening.
I guess all you can do
is constantly be in motion.
Bernice Zoleka Mannie
LYAIOZ MANNIE
It sneaks up on all of us
Imperceptibly at first
But dawning slowly over time
Until it's time we took a hard look
In the mirror… and faced the truth
It's inescapable
It happens to all of us
First born, last born
People, places, governments, movements, principalities
It catches up with all
We must confront what we've become
Has the age of enlightenment become the age of entanglement?
That many-legged arachnid known as truth
Waits silently at the edge of the web… that tangled one we weave
When wonder becomes plunder, and balance becomes challenge
And the age of reason becomes likened unto treason
Who do we deceive… and what will be consumed?
when light fractures into noise…
I embrace the outburst
with emptiness chewing up my nerves.
The void softens the impact—
can’t break what never arrived.
What you don't know about writing
is that it doesn't know you,
until the two of you are willing
to stew a mess of your own -
brewing your blood's greatest enigmas
right down to its own bone marrow -
why not say hello,
at least?
Thou who would bear the name of truth-teller,
Reverberate the sound of truth with words of flame
That the gen’ral mind daren’t whats’ever.
And set forth a heart of righteousness unrestrained.
Neither friend nor acquaintance matter not,
Thy words thou shalt heed and to thine own self be true.
For only hyp’crits utter without thought.
And the awareness of mind thou art to pursue.
Thou who wear the title of Honesty,
Amidst thy companions and brethren of mankind,
Thou would know the secret which guarantee
A reputation which the masses have defined.
To touch the heart of man and speak at will,
Thou shalt deem not the quality of righteousness
A regular household chore to fulfill.
For unexcused blunders strike due to mindlessness.
Beneath the surface where thoughts often stray,
Lies a bias that colors our view each day.
Invisible threads weave through the mind,
Shaping perceptions we're blind to find.
We see through lenses that age has stained,
Distorting the world with judgments ingrained.
The mirror reflects a skewed truth's face,
A filtered reality, a hidden disgrace.
History’s shadows linger, stark and clear,
Biases persist though we claim to steer.
Masks of fairness cloak the hidden guise,
Concealing the biases that our heart denies.
Turn the gaze inward, seek the inner light,
Where biases drift in the depth of night.
Only by facing what's buried inside,
Can we untangle the truth that’s denied.
Acknowledge the flaws that quietly remain,
And let our minds break free from this silent chain.
For true change begins when we recognize,
The unconscious biases veiled from our eyes.
A stream of optimistic visions embalmed with vivid imagery,
Strength from mental energy kinetically dissolving fears,
Passions observed without words inner peace without mystery,
A sanctuary of hope where disbelief holds no ground here,
An anchor in times of need when shallow waters aren't what they seem,
Disillusioned by physical senses my soul is quite aware of what's authentic,
Imagery converged with empathy expresses the heart's path,
Emotions engage excitement from depression's wrath,
But my shield is a thought enshrined by wavering ideas,
Dreams are a birth a gift and a curse perception is key,
Deception is keen though I realize the rhythm of cycles,
The confusion of idols movement is vital life's an expression.
The universe swallowed my thoughts
In another instant of uncertainty
Truthfulness and doubt together were something
Morphed into a new creation of nothing
As if my time itself were the black hole
And I, a dwarf star in the infinite sky
Waning in the moment’s loss of control
Where another hope was left to die.
Shapeless and unseen in darkness
Lost in the infinite, recessive light
A contorted mass of possibilities gone
Like the dim light of a rainy dawn
Ambitions and plans stricken by loss
And I, a fading star in a familiar crowd
Carrying an even more familiar cross
To be convicted of the sins I’ve avowed.
Brighter stars illuminate without me
Much like the brilliance I once exuded
A new creation of barely something I’ll be
With much less to adore in low luminosity
And as the universe recycles these thoughts
Uncertainty strangely becomes known
In all my doubts, I have become a have not
With my mistakes left with me for which to atone.
Journey Journal Page
SELF-AWARENESS
By Leon Enriquez
Awake
Meet mystic fate
Here at the gate
Early not late
For goodness sake
Aware
Greet magic state
Stern poise that plates
Your happy date
Of happy fare
~~~~~~~~~
Align
Your peace of mind
As soul now binds
Your heart’s own find
In fond design
Appeal
To greet goodwill
The way you feel
For words can heal
What thought reveals
~~~~~~~~~
Amass
Blessings of grace
Light on your face
In sweet embrace
In touch of class
Arouse
A feisty fest
Surge of fond zest
Feel wit urge jest
Play your full house
~~~~~~~~~
Abide
A certain feel
Strings words that heal
Know true goodwill
Love needs no pride
Await
That lovely tryst
To groom a kiss
In sexy bliss
Prompt lavish state
~~~~~~~~~
Appease
Feel touch most kind
Forge peace of mind
As beauty binds
Joy in warm lease
Agile
Know then the way
To live this day
Ground fun and play
Frame touch worthwhile
~~~~~~~~~
Leon Enriquez
22 February 2023
Singapore
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