Permission granted to:

• let your brain roll around in its hard shell
• grasp at this thought or that
• mull over the to-do list (or avoid it)
• allow your monkey mind to leap from branch to branch
until it settles into a perfect spot in a just-right tree,
to get itself out of the way & allow what wants
to emerge to emerge

Permission granted to forgive:

• the hard stuff
• the missteps
• the mistakes
• the blunders
• the embarrassing I-can’t-write/talk-about-this stuff
• the parent/teacher/adult in charge who got it wrong/yelled/
blamed you/made you feel less than/maybe didn’t mean to
• the adored one who said, It’s not you, it’s me
• the ones who were not the best choices
• the ones who were good choices but had some less-than-good moments
• your own less-than-good moments
• leaving when it got too hard
• staying longer than was wise
• the things you ingested/inhaled/imbibed that did not
serve you well
• the dying pet you had euthanized perhaps too soon—
or not soon enough
• the friends/family/lovers/spouses/partners/kind-hearted ones
whom you did not tell nearly often enough thank you/
I love you/you’re the best/I’m so lucky to find myself
in your orbit

Permission granted to:

• let go of all the woulda/coulda/shouldas
• love anyway
• apologize
• be forgiven
• cry if you want to (it’s your party)
• let the world work its healing magic
on your cracked-open heart
& (best of all)
• remember that it’s all story, so write it down
& watch those malleable words turn to art in your
kindly/capable/compassionate hands.