I am making a home inside myself.
A shelter of kindness where everything is forgiven, everything allowed— 
a quiet patch of sunlight to stretch out without hurry,
where all that has been banished and buried is welcomed, 
spoken, listened to—released.

A fiercely friendly place I can claim as my very own.
I am throwing my arms open
to the whole of myself—                                                                                                                                                                 especially the fearful, fault-finding, falling apart, unfinished parts,                                                                                                                                  knowing every seed and weed, every drop of rain, has made the soil richer.

I will light a candle, pour a hot cup of tea,                                                                                                                                       gather around the warmth of my own blazing fire.                                                                                                                                  I will howl if I want to, knowing this flame can burn through
any perceived problem, any prescribed perfectionism,
any lying limitation, every heavy thing.

I am making a home inside myself
where grace blooms in grand and glorious abundance, 
a shelter of kindness that grows
all the truest things.

~ Julia Fehrenbacher