Ace's Insights - I Have Stars In My Bones

July 4th is a day to remember. We have many days like that. It brings humility to the front of my mind. I give thanks for my independence. I give praise to yesterday's Fathers. I offer myself in service to all life, with my spirit of freedom.

There are so many thoughts about freedom. The meaning has been doctored over the years, but it still brings a sense of oneness to light. To be one is to be free. Oneness is unity. Unity is energy. Energy is what I am. It is always good to remember that energy is what we all are. Trying to be united in freedom is what history is all about, regardless of the time, place or people involved. We seek to know ourselves through our freedom. As the poem below tells me freedom will not come from outside, it only comes from within me.

Today is the now I believe in. I experience myself with energy. I express myself with unity. I become myself with freedom.

Brothers of the sea,
Look at the stars,
Look at the deep blue
And set the world free.
Our right is to live and be free;
Freedom will not come from outside.
It is only in ourselves united.
(This is Samar fisherman's song from the Philippines)

The small plot of ground
on which you were born
cannot be expected
To stay forever
the same.
Earth changes,
and home becomes different
places.
You took flesh
from clay
but the clay
did not come
from just one
place.
To feel alive,
important, and safe,
know your own waters
and hills, but know
more.
You have stars in your bones
and oceans
in blood
You have opposing
terrain in each eye.
You belong to the land
and sky of your first cry,
you belong to infinity.
(Author: Alla Renee Bozarth)

Soil for legs
Axe for hands
Flower for eyes
Bird for ears
Mushroom for nose
Smile for mouth
Song for lungs
Sweat for skin
Wind for mind
Just enough
(Author: Nanao Sakaki )

Hal Manogue is a poet and author of Short Sleeves A Book For Friends. Insightful thoughts for the 21st century. Hal's 2006 collection and 2007 collection are available in bookstores and online. Visit Hal's website: http://www.shortsleeves.net or blog: http://halmanogue.blogspot.com/ for more information about his work and life. Download a copy of the new E-Book,"Unite To Write" a collection of articles written by writers around the globe, that will inspire and fill you with useful information. It's value is priceless. It's Hal's gift to you.

Julia Cameron