I wake at four these days, my heart a May Pole of connection with my ancestors through my brother’s passing on April 14th.  He is here weaving beauty and love in and through my heart.

When embalming, the Egyptians left the heart inside the body because they believed the heart was the seat of wisdom and in the afterlife it would be weighed to see whether the person had led a good life.

I believe now the heart is stretched when someone we love passes, strengthened.  It is as though breath moves more clearly and openly through nose and pores, and in that, we notice more.  I’m seeing birds in trees and roses hidden within green growth. I feel the world peering at me, peeking, as I look, hear, smell, touch, taste.  I’m receiving the world around me, expanded in my brother’s passage, his leadership in growth.

In that, I’m with the well-known quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in The Little Prince: “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Eyes opened, heart touched, I wiggle in receptivity, grateful to be led like a child by those who go before.