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I am a bare soul, hunting for others with whom to share bareness, to feel each others' jagged edges and smooth underbellies and marvel at the buffing that reveals beauty.
In a world that glorifies strength and defines success as covering up in power suits and tells the stories of those who haven't broken, it is hard to be bare. Harder, still, to find the bare ones. For I love the broken, the jagged edges, the incomplete, the gritty surface with the smooth underbelly, the shell worn down to pearl. I cheer the ones who have the courage to break, not knowing how the pieces will be reassembled but hoping against hope that they will.
As a writer, it is easy for me to be bare. In person, however, I feel shyness tug at my skin and I reach for covering, something prettier than this nothingness that reveals all. And I wonder why it's not a clear translation, from written word to spoken word, walking as a bare soul beneath another's gaze.
But this I know: the more I write the bare-skinned story, the more I live into it. Until the day when what I write and what I live are but one story, and I no longer shrink from the gaze of ones who have not yet shed their own clothes.
Joining Lisa-Jo today and the writers at Five-Minute Friday, for the prompt of "Bare."
Here from FMF. "Buffing that reveals beauty" resonated with me. Happy writing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit :-) Glad to know something resonated! Happy writing to you as well!
DeleteThis is beautiful, Amber. You're a gifted writer.
ReplyDeleteI too find myself struggling to translate the authenticity of writing into living. Even while learning to write without fear or pretense, I still take comfort in the safety of words. Walking into a room with eyes and heart wide open...that's another beast entirely.
Hehe, yeah, you said it. Another beast entirely. I definitely find comfort in the safety of words, but I'm glad, too, that words which flow from a genuine desire for authenticity also unleash something that isn't so 'safe', that over time and repetition and reflection, often change me and my behavior. I think that's a beautiful way God can move in us writers :-)
DeleteHi Amber
ReplyDeleteI love your words where you love into your stories of barrenness.sort of you reveal yourself a little bit at a time and our Pappa god is quite okay with that!
Happy FMF
Mia
Thank you, Mia :-) It's funny, how it's easier to be bare with God than it is with people, when it's only God's gaze that really matters... but I'm grateful He is so gracious with the process. Love to you!
DeleteOoh, how I love that you chose bare bones as your metaphor today, friend. This line: "I am a bare soul, hunting for others with whom to share bareness, to feel each others' jagged edges and smooth underbellies and marvel at the buffing that reveals beauty." -- Probably one of the many reasons I feel I already know you and love you, really, even though we've not yet met face to face. So grateful to share in this writing life journey with you. Your words here truly sing, my friend.
ReplyDeleteI know it's one of the many reasons I feel I already know and love YOU, sweet friend. I had you in mind as I wrote this.
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