A Birthday & Valentine's Day Prayer

for me, for you, for us all

I’ve been a bit MIA— I’m sorry!

Maybe you’ll forgive my absence if I share where I’ve been: I’ve been dealing with an autoimmune illness which was massively exacerbated by a vaccination. Though I’ve kept my health issues largely to myself and to those extremely close to me, a dear friend recently shared about the power of saying things aloud. In terms of the negative, I think speaking one’s feelings, fears, and anxieties out loud is about exorcising the body of harmful negativity; as far as speaking about the good stuff, well, I’ve always been very superstitious, so I’ve held onto the false belief that if I say something out loud, it won’t come true. Like jinxing it or something. (yes, I’m still a child).

Well…. F*ck all that. I’m making a new vow: the negative can be spoken aloud so that I may free myself of it and the positive will be shared so that the Universe can hear my prayers loud and clear.

Needless to say, bombs have been going off both within and outside of this little body of mine. We all have our own versions of suffering— of wars in the world that affect us personally and profoundly; of wars within that often feel insurmountable.

I cannot offer any resolution to either our personal or collective strife. I only know of the few things that help ameliorate the pain. For me, it’s always been music and poetry, prayer, and the connection I share with the important people in my life. I hope you will take note of the things— tiny though they may seem— that bring you peace.

A BIRTHDAY & VALENTINE’S DAY WISH

And because today is my birthday, I am feeling particularly emotional— which is exactly when I know I must turn to the things that ground and settle me, and which remind me of the beauty in each moment we are alive.

Birthdays are weird and have always stirred up all sorts of feelings for me. Throughout my life, people have perpetually asked if I like having my birthday on Valentines Day. The answer has remained an unequivocal YES. Yes, because no matter what my personal life circumstances may be in any given year, the energy of big red paper hearts pasted on shop windows, boxes of chocolates being slung on seemingly every corner, flowers blossoming from every other person’s hands— it all feels like one big celebration. And not just any celebration but a celebration of the greatest power in this big wide world: Love.

And what more is there? I’m not sure there is anything more. At least nothing more important.

So in the spirit of my solar return, this wild Aquarian soul would like to share a favorite poem, some cherished music, and a powerful prayer. May LOVE fill the empty spaces within us and provide each of us with the strength to make it through these crazy, crazy days we call life.

Happy Love day to us all.

THE MUSIC:

THE POEM:

[somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond]

By e.e. cummings

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond

any experience, your eyes have their silence:

in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me, 

or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me

though i have closed myself as fingers, 

you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens

(touching skillfully, mysteriously) her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, I and 

my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,

as when the heart of this flower imagines

the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals 

the power of your intense fragility: whose texture

compels me with the colour of its countries,

rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes

and opens; only something in me understands

the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)

nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands

THE PRAYER:

There are so many prayers that I deeply love and could share with you now— all from varying religions and philosophies. For me, there is only One Source and all roads lead to there. But in light of the intense antisemitism proliferating around the globe, I’ve decided to stick close to home— to the religion and culture into which I was born and proudly continue to honor. One of my most favorite prayers in Judaism happens to also be its most central prayer— the Shema.

The first verse declares: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. This is followed by the specific ways in which faith in the Lord should be lived: Love God with all of your being, teach it to your children, recite it when you wake and lie down, bind it as a symbol on your body.

You don’t have to be Jewish— or even believe in God— to sense the beauty of this prayer. I hope you’ll take a listen to this gorgeous rendition: