Make Your Life Alive!

Make the plans.
Take the steps.
Remember your dreams.
Live your passion.
Give yourself to yourself.
Dedicate your heart to being kind and happy.
Have your "time off" be the time you have to spend on things that don't matter in the long run. Spend your life creating, not destroying. And LOVE WHAT YOU DO!
Be proud of what you do.
When someone asks you what you do for a living, be one of the few who truly enjoys telling them. And who can say, when it all comes to a close, that you genuinely lived.
Be you.
Wear what you want. Express yourself openly.
Don't be afraid of how others may see you, those negative looks are fraught with jealousy and misunderstanding. Those who cannot release and be who they truly are see those who can as a threat.
Make eye contact.
Truly pay attention.
Look into each other's eyes.
Really look.
When you're together be together. Don't allow the inconsequential to distract from the important.
Give.
Give kindness.
Give love.
Smile at strangers.
Donate to causes.
Go on the trips you've "been planning" for years.
Reach out to friends.
Keep in touch with your family. If they don't call, don't hold it against them, be the one to dial the phone.
Be the one with the courage to ask how they are doing. And if they start to really tell you, you really listen.
Talk to one another. Learn about those people you've known for decades. You'll realize that even those you think you know the best can still surprise you.
Truly listen to them. And when it comes to gift-giving, give from your heart. Give from sentimentality and need, not frivolity and want.
Go outside.
Sit in the grass.
Dig your fingers into the Earth.
Laugh back at birds.
Pick up bugs.
Be gentle.
Be quiet.
Be the you you've always dreamed of being. And don't let your passions, your dreams, your goals, become something written in a notebook gathering dust.
Don't be afraid to take chances.
Don't be afraid to change your life.
It's never too late to become what you know in your heart that you're meant to be.

The Pain of the Lonely

There is no word to properly describe the pain of loneliness.
It's a deep ache that takes over your entire soul.
It's an all encompassing bodily scream that echos from within. Shaking one's core without making an audible sound.
The memory of touch tugs at your heart.
The memory of smell rocks your brain.
The pain remains regardless of surroundings.
Regardless of the number of people around you.
Much of the time, the ache of loneliness becomes multiplied exponentially with each new body in your presence.
You smile.
You laugh.
You listen.
You make them laugh.
You never tell.
You never show.
You never admit.
You cry.
You only cry alone.
You cry in bed.
In the dark.
Silently weeping.
Silently aching.
Your heart silently deteriorating...
Alone.

Failure

It's amazing how much I haven't tried in my life because of my fear of failure. It's amazing how much I haven't done because I'm afraid. Afraid of weakness, afraid of letting go, afraid of showing who I truly am. I wonder how much of that is due to past heartaches and heartbreaks and how much of that is ingrained in me deep within. I wonder what I could become, who I could be, what all I could give this world if I weren't afraid of failing.

© 2017 Kara Nelson

Voices...

I hear voices in the silence.
Not from inside my head.

I hear voices in the silence.
Of those who are dead.

I hear voices in the silence.
A cacophony of life.

I hear voices in the silence.
The passed over, living twice.

© 2016 Kara Nelson

Come back...

I don't dream about you anymore.
Which makes me question how I felt before.

I know you're off with someone else.
Someone younger and less confident.

No promise was broken. You aren't betraying my trust.
I don't expect you to ignore your interest and lust.

My heart, however, remains within your grasp.
Even though, spiritually, our connection now lacks.

Where are you, my love, my light?
Come back and see me deep within the night.

Bring your gaze back to my eyes.
I'll disregard the folly of the brain between your thighs.

Together, you and I, it all makes sense.
All the bridges we can cross, but first it's the distance.

When will we feel the touch we share in our sleep?
Once again one, through hands, eyes, euphoric heat.

Your hands firm around my waist.
My fingers in your hair. In my mouth, your taste.

Our souls, as one, taking on the world ahead.
Together, correctly, as our dreams have said.

© 2015 Kara Nelson

We held each other...

We held each other last night.

I came out to support you and watch you on stage.

My family came along to meet you.

After the show you saw me and took me in.

We held each other.

You smelled of laundry soap and the day’s work.

You were in a white button down and grey pants.

You smiled at me the way only you can.

Our eyes going even deeper into one another’s.

We held each other.

Everyone loved you.

Everyone could see the way you love me.

Everyone could see the way I love you.

We held each other last night.

You wrapped your arms around me tighter.

I closed my eyes and buried my face in your neck.

You stroked my hair and kissed my neck.

Your hands holding my back firmly and passionately.

Each of your fingers pressing warmly into my skin.

My hand played with your hair.

We held each other.

You told me that you were so glad I was there.

That you had missed me and love me.

I told you how much I love you.

You kissed me.

The world disappeared.

And it was just us.

Alone as one.

Holding each other.

© 2014 Kara Nelson

In my dreams...

You were in my dream last night. 

Smiling that familiar smile.

Looking deeply into my eyes again like before.

Like lives before.

Like hearts before.

You were on the landing below me looking up.

In a soft blue button down, black pants and coat.

Your hair disheveled and greying.

Ignoring the man talking to you to look at me while I ascended the stairs and turned to look back at you.

My friend saw the way you were looking at me and asked who you were.

I told her you were my heart and my one.

She said I was very lucky that she could see the way you love me.

Everything else was a blur.

It was just you, your eyes, your smile, your heart and mine together.

My heart, mind, soul, eyes, and love miss you every day.

© 2014 Kara Nelson