Who decides what deserves her focus —
Or not?
Who decides what gets her blessed attention
And what is simply a daydream?
And who decided daydreams
Weren’t worth the time of day
Noticing everything
Controlling nothing
Finding clarity and insight
In the spaces between?
©Ashley Castle Barnes
Her view once obscured
Now coming into focus,
Like the glass she once gazed upon
For answers,
And the unspoiled stream
Which flows through
The foothills of her mind
©Ashley Castle Barnes
Sometimes the path looks pretty hazy.
The fog is thick and heavy and we can’t see much more than a few feet ahead, if that far.
And other times, it’s clear as a mountain spring.
I cherish these times of clarity, but I’m also learning to value the fog.
It’s uncomfortable, unsettling – liminal space.
And it has its own gifts.
Learning to find solid ground – or to become comfortable with instability.
Trusting yourself with only a bit of tangible clarity.
Enjoying the beauty and wisdom that comes with a different view.
Creating from ambiguity – or allowing for needed rest.
Today, the path is looking clearer. Tomorrow may be different.
How are you navigating the in-between today?
Through darkness
She sees
With eyes turned inward
Parting the clouds
For her passage
Through what feels impermeable
But is actually clear
As night
©Ashley Castle Barnes
So often our path is unclear, which can bring up a myriad of feelings, often fear, anxiety, even sadness.
We want clarity, to see what comes next, to know with certainty we’re on the right path.
At least I know do. I have learned over time to work pretty well in ambiguous spaces, like work. But when it comes to my own life, I want to know.
Of course, that rarely happens. Even when we know, we don’t fully know.
I explore this need to know often. I recognize it has much to do with safety and control.
And I always come back to what actually does give me a sense of safety and control – the knowing that my inner guidance is the only clarity I have.
Although, it’s rarely what most would call clear.
It’s cloudy too, because inner guidance it’s not a future-teller. It’s a now-teller.
What steps do I need to take now? What do I need to reframe now to get into a better mindset for growth? Do I need to rest and regroup? Do I need to reach out to someone?
This is the guidance that leads to the clarity I so crave. This is the guidance that comes when I let go of safety, certainty, and control.
How are you allowing clarity from your inner guidance today?
What if it all comes together
And she finds
That’s she was never lost at sea
She was simply not seeing
The shore
Through the fog
Through the moor
Now appears the door
©Ashley Barnes
Sometimes we spend a lot of time trying to figure out what’s wrong with us so we can fix it.
Searching, seeking. Always assuming something is missing or lost.
Perhaps that’s just part of the human experience. And growth is good.
How many of us find, though, that all that seeking outward was in vain. That once we clear the fog, suddenly we see what was there all along.
That maybe we were misguided. Confused. Holding onto messages that are no longer true, or never even were to begin with.
But not actually lost. Not needing to be fixed, or even changed.
Just needing to clear a path and be.
We’re always standing on the threshold of awareness. Sometimes we just have to see through to the door.
What doors are you opening today?
When all noise drips away
What’s left but only
Her big dreams
And silent thoughts
Of how tomorrow will be
Even better than today
©Ashley Barnes
We live in a noisy world that pulls us in every direction.
Some of us live in a noisy mind too, one that finds every shiny thing enticing and wants to experience everything all at once.
There are moments though, when we find that we can escape the constant chatter and movement, and find a sliver of silence and stillness.
And in that space is often where we best find hope. Possibility. The kind of longing that keeps us moving forward, even when the pace is like molasses.
The pull for more comes better into focus. Less overwhelming, if only for just a few moments.
And clarity is born.
How are you finding a sliver of silence and stillness today?
Despite the ambiguity
Of transition
She is clear
There is no brokenness
Only that which can be healed
And that which can’t
And in her wholly perfect hands
She holds out possibility
For both
©Ashley Barnes
Sometimes lack of clarity is the clearest gift we can give ourselves.
Because in that fog, we drop our assumptions, our go-to tools, our escape routes, and we fumble. We falter. We stumble around.
We can’t immediately see the answer so we have to trust a different source.
And what we settle into that space instead of struggling, we tap into a clarity we didn’t have before.
We can see with greater wisdom, what needs to be fixed and what needs to be nurtured.
What needs to be pursued, and what we can let go.
What needs to be fixed, and what is perfect just as it is.
Many times, that is us. We are dropped into a fog so that we can see that we’re perfect just as we are.
Not broken. Not in need of fixing.
Maybe there are parts that need healing. But no matter how many layers we peel back, we can’t heal who we are inside.
And that’s the greatest clarity we could possibly receive.
What gift is ambiguity bringing to you today?
If her life took flight tomorrow
Would she know the way
Or would she stray
Focused on the seeming
Lack of clarity she finds today
©Ashley Barnes
Sometimes we just need to float.
To sink beneath the waters as if we might drown, only to come up for a breath more whole than before.
In our transition between the worlds above and below the surface, we become what we seek.
And then we dip back in.
What are you finding below the surface today?
At this point in my life, sleep is not always my friend.
It’s hard to fall asleep. It’s hard to stay asleep. It’s way too easy to wake up.
But in those moments that I do sleep well, I wake up not only rested but with clarity.
New ideas.
Answers that weren’t there the night before.
This magic arising from that space which exists only in a dream state.
Asleep but not exactly present.
Where, I don’t know. And I don’t need to.
My soul knows where to go.
What magic do you bring back from your sleep?
Cat Lady Poet 