Beast of Burden

Heard this song yesterday morning in the car - such a great tune:

I'll never be your beast of burden
My back is broad but it's a hurting
All I want is for you to make love to me

I'll never be your beast of burden
I've walked for miles my feet are hurting
All I want is for you to make love to me

And I found myself thinking how much simpler it would be if that's all I wanted. And it was, for a time, but it was a time when I was denying major parts of myself. Now that I am feeling more fully integrated, I want the person making love to me to be the very same person that helps me continue to understand how to really love someone with your whole heart without becoming their beast of burden:

I'll never be your beast of burden
I'll never be your beast of burden
Never, never, never, never, never, never, never be

I think sometimes this is what we are afraid of -- especially when we've had an experience where we've abandoned ourself for another or in the name of something that felt larger than we were -- and this fear can keep us from fully investing in a love. It may feel like it is the relationship or the other person we can't fully trust, and there is some truth to that. We can't control what other people do.

Luckily, we don't have to control what other people say or do. All we need is to be able to trust ourselves to stay tuned into what we are feeling and remain committed to speaking our truth and having it heard by the ones we love. Even when it hurts them to hear it. Because it's the people who love us most who can help our truths evolve into something more fully realized and more beautiful than anything we can conjure up on our own.

I should know. Over the last 22 months I've seen my understanding of love blossom (and myself along with it) in ways I never imagined possible.