Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she could see the obvious.

She looks back at herself, seeing what she can see every day.

She wakes up to live with long brown hair, crystal gray eyes. Hips much too wide. She has a sway in her walk, gentleness in her talk. A rasp of love and a laugh of life.

She sees her reflection.

She walks out the door, coffee in her small hands. An undeniable attitude hugs her hips, letting everyone know she’s coming their way.

She looks up to the sky grasping and breathing into the blessing she feels every day is.

She looks at life feeling as if everything were placed here for us to feel and admire its beauty.

She smiles at the woman passing. The man passing. The child playing in the leaves. The dog resting under a willow.

The birds flying above remind her of the “Freedom” tattoo on her arm. The perfected flaws in the sidewalk she’s walking on meet her feet every morning. She and the sidewalk both comforted that they meet again.

She walks with her book bag around her shoulder. The weight not bothering her. She is strong and there are far too many distractions along the way.

Unaware she is the biggest distraction of them all.

She knew about a lot of things. But still she wondered. She wondered about a lot of things. So many things in this world. She wondered how she could ever touch them all.

The people around her knew her. They didn’t know her story, but she was known. They wondered at the surface of her appearance. Her existence was sharp. The people felt its energy.

Her energy.

She woke up ready to live, knowing there were worlds out there to explore. Places to be. People to see. She saw people as worlds of unknown territory. She always did like to wander.

Here she comes. They usually see her from afar. A body passes hers.

They are now carrying some of her energy. The wind takes it and gives it to those she feels as well. She will be held awhile. Maybe longer.

Keeping her energy warm and close, the people notice whom they have passed. Aware a locket has appeared around their neck. Now taking a little part of her with them.

She went on living. She went on walking. She wondered how she could ever touch them all.

The people wondered, Does she know the power she holds?

The people in her path wondered how she could do this to them. How could she touch them whole? What does she have?

It is time to enter her destination.

She sees her reflection in the window she passes. She sees herself.

The people inside feel her entrance.

They see a goddess.

This goddess enters them. They breathe her in. They breathe her out. Again and again. Day by day.

You are her. She is you.

And you hold the power.

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Author: Sadianne Hess

Editor: Toby Israel

Images: Javier Avellan Veloz/Flickr // Aditya Rakhman/Flickr

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