{"id":282,"date":"2021-08-06T22:56:03","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T22:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/06\/ill-meet-you-there\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T22:50:28","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T22:50:28","slug":"ill-meet-you-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/06\/ill-meet-you-there\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019ll meet you there"},"content":{"rendered":"

I give you permission to lay it all down.
\nTo be your authentic self.<\/p>\n

Gather the stressors
\nthe to-do\u2019s
\nthe feelings of not enough
\nInto a large net.<\/p>\n

Ensnare them.
\nGently.
\nLovingly.
\nIn the net.<\/p>\n

Fold it around all of your weights.
\nLift them from your body.
\nAnd lay them down.
\nAll around you if you must.<\/p>\n

Hold it all outside of you.
\nExamine the pile strewn around you.
\nSee how laying it all down,
\nUnburdening yourself,
\nAmplifies your authentic self.<\/p>\n

You may try your hardest to cloak yourself
\nIn the armor of stress and doing and judging,
\nBut you\u2014you\u2014are always there.
\nLurking in the shadows.
\nWaiting to be created.
\nAnd revealed.
\nUnder the net of stuff you\u2019ve just lifted from your shoulders.<\/p>\n

You, my love, can be nothing but yourself.
\nFree to create.
\nFree to be.<\/p>\n

As your authentic self, you are
\nCreator, without fear.
\nFeeler, without judgment.
\nConnected, without conformity.<\/p>\n

So, my love, be free.
\nLeave it all there on the floor.
\nBe you.
\nJust you.
\nBecause you cannot be anyone else.
\nYou are enough.<\/p>\n

Give yourself permission to lay it all down and walk with me.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll meet you there.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Image credit: \u201creaching out blue\u201d<\/a> by Creativity103<\/a> is licensed under CC BY 2.0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I give you permission to lay it all down. To be your authentic self. Gather the stressors the to-do\u2019s the feelings of not enough Into a large net. Ensnare them. Gently. Lovingly. In the net….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry"],"yoast_head":"\nI\u2019ll meet you there - Monica J. 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To be your authentic self. Gather the stressors the to-do\u2019s the feelings of not enough Into a large net. Ensnare them. Gently. Lovingly. In the net....","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":501,"url":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/17\/how-im-learning-to-trust-the-writing-process\/","url_meta":{"origin":282,"position":0},"title":"How I’m Learning to Trust the Writing Process","author":"Monica Williams","date":"December 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"These days, I'm working on essays for my memoir collection. Every essay has its hard moments, but the one I'm writing now has me particularly stuck. Rather than give up, I'm learning to trust the stickiness as part of the process of becoming a better writer. 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I smelled dampness. Reaching overhead, I felt the cool stone ceiling. Reaching out right and left, my hands meet ruddy stone walls. 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I couldn't let myself down, so I let go of trying to force my life into a box to instead float with the current of my creativity.","rel":"","context":"In "Essay"","block_context":{"text":"Essay","link":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/category\/essay\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/River-small-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/River-small-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/River-small-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/River-small-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monicajwilliams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/River-small-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":288,"url":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/03\/self-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":282,"position":3},"title":"Self-love","author":"Monica Williams","date":"May 3, 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"Self-loveThis page has the text of a reflection I gave in church (Ogden UCC) on Sunday, May 2, 2021 on the theme of self-love.","rel":"","context":"In "Essay"","block_context":{"text":"Essay","link":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/category\/essay\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":300,"url":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/05\/how-i-matter-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":282,"position":4},"title":"How I matter (part 2)","author":"Monica Williams","date":"March 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Chapter 2 I Matter. As she lay on the ground, stunned by the appearance of two words that had never occurred to her in quite that way, she noticed that the space behind her eyelids now glowed with energy. Those two words had pulled her suddenly out of the darkness\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fiction"","block_context":{"text":"Fiction","link":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/category\/fiction\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":657,"url":"https:\/\/monicajwilliams.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/23\/birthday-letter-2007-i-wanted-us-to-be-parents\/","url_meta":{"origin":282,"position":5},"title":"Birthday Letter, 2007: I wanted us to be parents","author":"Monica Williams","date":"April 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On a second reading, I found, tucked near the end of the first handwritten page, two lines that prickled with the static of a new dilemma. 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