I am but a water droplet in the river of life . . .

I will share what has returned to me, what has been in front of me all these years, words that came to me to share as my high school graduation speech. I was our class valedictorian, which I sometimes feel doesn't mean as much being my high school class was a class of seven. Yes, 7, as in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Not a typo, missing a zero or zeroes, or a -ty or a hundred, just seven. The salutatorian, Andrew, and I were separated by some minuscule amount like a tenth of a percentage point on a final grade in one quarter of the sixteen over four years of high school. At least, that is my memory of it. And in classic HSP-style (Highly Sensitive Person, read more on Elaine Aron's website: www.hsperson.com), I felt guilty that we were separated by so little and that Andrew didn't get to be valedictorian. I know I wasn't expecting top of the class, and I probably was more than a little nervous about giving a speech as such, too. (That would be the introvert part there combined with the HSP trait.)

A week or two before graduation, this is what came to me while sitting in the back of English class one morning. Yes, Mr. Goss, I was not paying attention that day for a good portion of class. Highly unusual for me to be so tuned out from class, and thanks for not calling me out on it. Hopefully I was well cloaked in the back of the room, filled with maybe fifteen students, lol.


This speech, this poem, this offering, this Vision was born that day:


I am but a water droplet in the River of life.
May I become part of a Beautiful rainbow.

The River
Flowed in the same bend,
Same course,
For Twelve years.

Also twelve years
The river took to work on a
New course.

Suddenly —
A new bend,
A shorter course,
And Another start
To working on a
Shorter course in
Years to come.
Working for
Another relief in its
Ever-flowing existence.

The river works every day.
The river flows every day.
The river forever goes on.
This is the lesson learned from the River.

May I have the stamina of the River.


I Learn from
Water,
Earth,
Clouds,
Sky,
Wind, and
Rain.
Animals.

Learning does not come in the structure of a school.

When riding a horse,
Going up hill
Takes more
Than
Going down hill.

Down hill,
The rider can lean back,
And relax.

Up hill,
The rider leans forward with the hill
Urges the horse on,
Works harder.

Whether running, jogging,
Or walking;
Going up hill takes more effort.

Walking may seem slower yet
It takes more strength,
And allows for more
Planning in the footsteps.
The up hill path may be more
Difficult but
This Path will also
Get me to more
Places.

This is the lesson learned from the Horse.
The harder I work
The sooner I will get to the
Places I Plan to Reach.


The River carves
Its way into
The earth.
This is beautiful —
A Canyon into the Soul.
The River flows
Into the Earth.

May I follow the River to
Know the depths of
My Soul and potential.
My ability to carve
New paths within
My home.
To Know my home.


The Rain cleanses
The Earth
Washes the fresh
Layer of dust away.
Encourages growth.
Brings the green,
The Health of our Home.
The Rain joins the River.


The Sky
Look straight up
At the sky and
Wonder and wander
Through the
Connection of the
Blue.
The Ever-flowing
Road of the World’s
Waterways.

The Sky brings Rain.
The Earth carries the Rain to
The River.
The Earth knows
How to take care of herself.
Drought or Flood
Sun or Rain
Wind or Stillness

May I learn more
From my home
On how to Survive.
On how to live in the
Balance of this Circle.

The Clouds
The Clouds carry the Rain
Through the Sky to the Earth.

Clouds are also the dreams of Mountains.

The Wind is the messenger which
Carries these dreams.

May I have the
Skill of the
Wind to carry
My clouds
From the mountains of my life
To the Mountains of truth
Where I will find the
Heartbeat of Nature clearly
Pulsing in my Life.

May I continue
To learn from
The best teacher —
My Earth Home

The Clouds
The Sky
The River
The Rain
And those Creatures
Which Live in the
Abundance of
This Circle.
May I learn from All.

Before I start or finish a poem,
A chapter,
A book, a day, a year, a paragraph,
A line, a word;
May I learn the Lessons I am to learn
So as to make
The Basis,
The Foundation,
Of My Life
Stronger Each Day.


May Nature
Continue to
Teach me.

As long as I
Keep my eyes
Open.
As long as
My Ears listen.
My Heart beats.
My Lungs Breathe.
As long as
The Ancient Fire of Life
Burns Within Me.
There will be a
New lesson in
Each New Day.



May I reach the top
Of the Mountain and the
Depths of the Canyon
in Full Strength.

And May I remember this:
I am but a water droplet in the River of life.
May I become part of a Beautiful rainbow.


With that dear community -- family, friends, colleagues, clients, all of you who touch my heart and my life -- I venture out into the Wilderness, knowing, remembering, being but a water droplet in the river of life.



copyright 2015 L Y Inman Mitchell