I have reached an age where my heroes have become human.
There is a softer kind of magic to believe in now—
That a body can bend
That a heart can turn sour but ripen again
That friendships are meandering, and loyalty
sometimes means dormancy and patience.

I have reached an age where I’ve dismissed my inner armies
thanking them for years of service and sending them home to their families 
with a Christmas ham.
My heart is open behind an unmanned fortress
beautiful in its ability to break and mend daily
its accumulation of scar tissue only making it bigger.

I have reached an age where the souls of my alter-egos
are shelved like reference books, for teaching new generations
that we were never meant to be only one volume.
I string together beads of knowing, life’s lessons
knitted in bumps and baubles with skeins of love and tears
and good intentions, laying out a large blanket.
I use it now to warm my heroes 
when they lie shivering, turned human by age.

©Skye Nicholson 2022

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I don’t suppose there is ever a time where you look around at your life and say “I have arrived!”

Or maybe there is, occasionally: Moments that you feel centered and secure, like this is where I am supposed to be. And then, a few days later, you are looking up from the floor in a daze, wondering who swept the rug out from under your feet.

We just take the steps, walk the path, and marvel at each roadside attraction. I sometimes expect the older generations to carry the most wisdom…until my 7-year-old daughter has the most profound insight and I am humbled once again, realizing we are all one another’s teachers, if we allow it.

As the year nears its end, I like to ponder what will come next. Some years I have decided to stop and take a different path. Others I have gone barreling forward, excited to discover what lies over the horizon.

I invite you to ponder what is coming into view as 2022 comes to a close. How do you feel about your approaching destination?

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Skye Nicholson is a certified Empowerment Coach and founder of Soul’s Truth Coaching LLC, life coaching services for women. She is a poet, author, and mother of two. Visit www.soulstruthcoaching.com to find out more about empowerment coaching.