No Filter

I have roamed unshod

Been pierced by thorns, discolored by earth, caressed by grasses, cleansed by seas

 

I have striven with ungloved hands

Had dirt under my nails, gotten stings on my fingers, found stains on my skin, grown callouses on my knuckles, developed blisters on my palms, stroked the soft plush of a pet, accepted firm friendly handshakes, received affectionate squeezes, and massaged away another's pain

 

I have listened without mufflers and heard not just with my ears but with my mind and my heart

Lively lies, vicious deceit, biting truths, baiting remarks, and precious honesty

I have witnessed firsthand, not just through a picture, a screen, or a canvas

Ugliness I wish to forget and loveliness I hope I never do, and I've tried to learn from both

I have steeped in emotion, no numbing agent to take the edge off

Despair, desperation, misery, helplessness, hopelessness, wonder, bliss, elation, and everything in between, and survived it because I allowed it

 

I have loved without refrain in proximity and at distance

From time to time having my devotion requited, more often not, occasionally even unrecognized, until my heart was overfilled, or was shredded and left to bleed

I have balanced my right to expression

With my responsibility toward propriety, and articulated what was necessary even when unpopular

I have breathed the open air, no veil

Inhaled offensive stench, engaging aroma, airborne illness, and fresh healing breezes

 

I have fallen ill, and convalesced

Not always the same in the afterward but ready to embrace who and what I am now

I have bestowed all I had to offer

To worthy, to undeserving, to grateful, to thankless, to unaware

I have my hands wide open

Ready to give, prepared to receive

 

I have no fear

Strong enough to stop me because I choose courage whether I feel it or not

I have every intention to continue in truth to myself

Which means being true to the world as well, and wanting the same for and from you, my living out of the golden rule

I have friends who would attest to my honor

And enemies who tell an opposite story but I forgive them, and I forget them

I have no regrets

I offer no explanation, I make no apology

 

I have more to live, but if I die tonight, when God asks me, "What did you do with the life I gave you?"

I can answer

 

I lived it.