All of us are naked

All of us are naked; all of us have been brought to the floor,
Pain, fear, grief and rage have left their indelible mark on our tattered bodies on our grief-stricken hearts.

And yet,
we think we’re alone; we’re the shamed one, the blamed one, the one who couldn’t cope who couldn’t get it together and figure it out…
and so we cower under our self judgement, desperately hiding our pitiful lack.
We cover it over and pretend to be ok, to be like everyone else- the “sorted ones”
Constantly carrying the weight of our deceptions; forever fearful of being found out, of being exposed for the fraud that we are.

And yet,
Just imagine the sheer delight, the relief, the mutual celebration,
if one brave soul could stand up and declare:
“Look at me- I’m naked, I’m human, I’ve fucked up. I’m often in pain. I’m lonely, I’m needy.
I seek your approval and despise myself for it. I often despise you too…”

And yet,
The blue sky and the full moon can smash my cynicism into thousands of pieces of awe and wonder.
A kind word or a gentle touch can transform my rage into tears of sadness.
I am all of these things and more and maybe you are too?

How about we throw away the pretence of being perfect, of being untroubled into the bonfire of truth
And by the light of the flames, we can know that we’re not alone,
that there is nothing we need to hide, nothing to be embarrassed about
because as we look around we can see that everyone else is naked too.