exhale. writing is personal. at least this kind of writing. the kind of writing that is connected to the integrity of the soul. i’m not writing about someone else’s story or another’s impact on the world. it’s mine.

it’s mine. it’s a realization that on one hand is shy and protective, and on the other hand is exhilarating and emboldening. this is the time i’ve been given. we share that, you and me. we are sharing the same time on earth.

i remember hearing a quote once, that our lives are so similar, that it is only the details that separate us. i didn’t understand it then. i didn’t like it, it felt diminishing and empty. but i am learning to.

i wonder what you felt this week. i wonder if we felt the same things. the details, i know are not the same, but personal, unique. universal.

i’m picking this up again after several more weeks. i wonder how your weeks have been.

it’s interesting to share life with you. i realize the rise and fall of okayness creates experiences to be shared. iv’e wondered if these mini-plots read redundant or unsettling because of their predictable occurrences but.

i wonder, if we could chat, would you share mini-plots too? your walk of being settled, faced with wrestle, then back to settled again.

a while back i shared a moment of a rough morning. the real salve came from prayer and i was lifted. i guess details do spell difference in our stories.

the detail of a more recent wrestle meant the salve was not instant. the duration longer, the ache deeper.

i did have the thought to “play it out.” which i thought was funny because i can’t play, really, and the jolt of summer ending had nearly extinguished all progress i had made in learning.

i picked up the guitar and played a chord, one i remembered. it came out slow and sad and then I played the next chord. something familiar came to mind. the interval was something i knew. i played it again, then realized it was, “lead me, guide me” from the song, “I am a child of God”.

it seemed fitting. with those words and three chords, the prayer, unresolved on my knees became a prayer in my song. after a couple times through, i recorded it because i wanted it to reach someone, somewhere who has felt what I was feeling, no matter the details.

the middle part of the plot line when resolution and duration is unknown, “Lead me, guide me, stay close beside me,” maybe that’s a prayer and a place we share.