How do you change a person,
No, how do you allow yourself to be changed?
Can you run along the high trail, among the sunshine and shadow?
Among the thin places where spirit seems so much closer?
Will you listen?
Do you dare to be transformed?

One.
Ask what needs to be shed.
What will be given, gifted, buried, burned, seized upon, embraced?
What will be tucked away in storage or in someone else’s house?
Upon whose wall will you hang that painting until you need it,
or forget to need it?
What small piece of silver with a stone of turquoise will you pin to your jacket?
What silver heart or tiny locket will be cherished and saved?
Will you leave gifts on the doorsteps of strangers?

Consider your treasures.
The collection of shells and rocks gathered on your travels,
The words scrawled on scraps and in notebooks,
The angels that keep you company at night,
The half knitted sweaters,
The moth eaten poems.
The chili sauce you sweated over, grew the tomatoes yourself,
then stayed up till midnight boiling, sweetening, and bottling.
Will you place them on front porches,
tuck them in with the morning papers,
and then leave that Ontario town that keeps you small?

Two.
You must ask yourself,
Will you open up and shine no matter what?
Can you love that much?
Can you let go and not be afraid?
Do you have the courage to wear your story on the outside?

Three.
This is what I know to be true.

The leaky tattoo and the scar on the nose all bear witness to our stories.
Even in the reinventing, we carry old wounds, past loves, moments of courage.
We carry them in our skin, eyes, and hands.
When you cradled my head and touched me
I knew that everyone you have ever loved including yourself,
was held in that gesture.

Four
We all have hidden wings.
It is in the act of an open hand and a courageous heart
that we will blossom.
We all have wings to fly,
And we can always choose to spread them.