It feels recently as if there are so many things going on in my life that are helping me move towards my own radiant light.
 
Progress is coming step by step in my Blooming work:
 
I received 5 out of 5 stars from a reviewer for my book The Blooming of the Lotus.
 
I received again 5 out of 5 stars from another reviewer with a review reading:
Loved the book, how a survivor of incest takes you on a personal journey of healing. Shows that even in despair there is a light at the end of the tunnel, embarking on a maze of self-discovery, faith, healing and, most importantly of all, loving yourself for who and what you are.
 
After my book was chosen for the Top 12 BOOK Pick List for December on the Spirited Woman website, my Blooming work itself was invited to be on the Top 12 Pick List for the New Year. This list is a list of the work some of these women do. Spirited Woman has over 7000 followers on Facebook, connecting women to women. It especially concerns women who are doing things to heal the world and its people.
 
I have been invited to address the Domestic Violence Task Force in March in Greenfield, MA.
 
My grant to speak in conjunction with Abby’s House in Worcester, MA, was accepted!!! (Abby’s House is one of the oldest women’s shelters in the country.) In October in Worcester, for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I will have my first paid speaking engagement!!
 
All of this is incredible to me. It makes me so happy. I feel as if I am at last progressing in this Blooming work of mine.
 
BUT, even more, in a related but very inner part of my life, I am amazed to feel myself moving more and more into my own radiant light. I FEEL myself moving towards this, as I seek a way to bring together all of who I am into the work I do in and for the world. I feel my body and being creating this from my deepest self, and, in so doing, fulfilling my journey here.

​I know that what I give from this place will be that much richer.
 
To me, it is a miracle that I stand in this place today, after all I have endured, and I am so incredibly grateful.

Last July, The Blooming of the Lotus: a spiritual journey from trauma into light was published by WriteLife Publishing after I had self-published in September of 2013. My publisher submitted the text of my book to NetGalley to seek reviewers.

Nearly six months later, I have received my very first NetGalley review. My book was given its second rating of 5 out of 5 stars!! AND the review that follows is for a publication. Now I need to track down what publication!!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Full Text: Loved the book, how a survivor of incest takes you on a personal journey of healing. Shows that even in despair there is a light at the end of the tunnel, embarking on a maze of self-discovery, faith, healing and most importantly of all loving yourself for who and what you are.

Yahoo!!!!

Last night at the Wagon Wheel Word in Gill, MA, I read two poems from my book "The Blooming of the Lotus: a spiritual journey from trauma into light."

Both poems are from Part III of my book, about the continuation of my healing process as I slowly move out into the light.

The first poem is from the chapter Triggered and is called "Fairy Dust:"

Fairy Dust      

I wish I could run,
that my ankles could take it
but they can’t.
So I walk 
as fast as I am able,
trying to escape 
the feelings inside me,
trying in a race to beat 
what trails me.

I feel as if I am carved out  — 
hollow  — 
so deep down,
they need to 
dredge the river
for my body,
tossed and turned and lost
amidst the clay-filled waters,
opaque 
with the run-off 
of spring.
They find me instead,
my limbs caught
in the tangled mass of trees
sent downriver with the flood
of the hurricane last fall.

Eyes wide open,
glassy, unseeing,
I am deadened and pierced
from accusations echoing
the voices of my parents
saying I am bad 
over and over  — 
the boy’s words
bringing it all back to me.

Yet,
as I walk along the river 
scribbling madly 
to try to exorcise 
these demons within me  — 
so fierce in self-flagellation  — 
here and there,
the whisper of glimmer
in the froth of tumbling waters
is able to get through.
On a section calm
from level land beneath,
I notice flicks of fairy dust 
picking up the light,
and my body  — 
dead and trapped 
in the overwhelm of hurt  — 
feels the tiniest lick 
of desire
to awaken from the dark
just maybe. 

I will my body 
to melt away
until I am spirit alone
for a moment.
I want to leave behind
my wounded flesh
and the ancient shame 
born with it.
I want to let
the shimmer on the water
touch my authentic self,
the one not held 
or maimed
by words.

If I let down my guard,
I can see reflected there
my own goodness
like fairies dancing,
and I know I must listen,
take it to heart,
and no longer let myself 
dwell 
on the bottom of the river
from what he said.

The sparkling waters say 
I am good,
I am pure,
I am the water and the light,
I have done nothing wrong
but loved 
and given 
all I could.
So I ask the river now
and all of life
to lend me the strength
so I may bury what hurts
and return  — 
born anew  — 
with trust in myself again
in only
that I am good,
not just in spirit
but in my daily life
as a mother
and one 
who is only human.


And the second poem from the chapter "The Blooming:"

Being Woman         

I came here bleeding
as in the poem I wrote
in the wee hours 
of the morning,
trying to shed 
the wounds of my past.
Trying trying
to let the last blood go,
be gone forever.

And then here
in this circle of women,
listening,
sharing and  — 
do I dare imagine?  — 
loving,
I find the possibility
of entering life
as others live it,
no longer alone
but with threads of hope
weaving in
among the sadness.

I feel growing
from the swill
of rotted blood
buds of roses,
hearts of others joining,
and an awakening
into what is 
life.

© 2015, Robin Lynn Brooks

I heard from my publisher on New Year's Eve that one of my NetGalley reviews came in.
A member of the Ravenswood Review Team gave it 5 out of 5 stars!!
I'm pleased as punch!!

Happy New Year!