“You are not dead yet; it’s not too late

To open your depths by plunging into them

and drink in life

that reveals itself quietly there.

– Rainer Maria Rilke

I feel quite alive most of the time. Still, when I experience some diminishment or defeat or sadness – they can happen any time in life but are more frequent as I age – then I worry about the first death, the sense of giving up the spirit, the loss of hope dying before I am dead.

I reach inside, stay engaged with my soul. I turn to my inner life.

I need a place to go to restore my spirit, to get to the inner resources that have always sustained me all of my life. I suppose it is a sanctuary, a spiritual spa, a place of restoration.

Life can be wearing., even overwhelming. It can be glorious and beautiful.

Reaching inside of me is a silent, solitary, invisible process of reflection and renewal that helps me reclaim my strength, hope, and determination. It is all mine, a personal, individual place of healing and hope.

This is how I put my life in perspective, embrace the darkness and the light, rise above the regrets and fears that often come with life and age. When I go inward, I meet my angels and my demons, all of them nest there and wait for me.

Still, the inner life is a safe place for me, full of color and light. I take deep breaths of life there.

There, I ride the monsters down and seek out the better angels. This is a place that nourishes the power for good, and smothers evil and resignation.