But it's so cozy over here

all about our rooms

I got stuck in jail one night
with a bed and a table
I thought I'm safe
it was so cozy over here

the walls were comfort green
singing volare, cantare
so I thought safety lived in that box

the lyrics whispered: let's fly away in the clouds
let's fly away from maddening clouds

but how could their message be about freedom
while I sat inside a cell
without even knowing?

every day blurred into one and the same
I tried to heat coffee on the table
as if ambient air
could do what only fire can

but maybe what I craved was freshness
something you can’t box up in the routine

a deeper calling 
I couldn't meet in here
in what I've always called safe

turns out I was training my brain
to silence the voice within
that small voice that wasn't mine
whispering beneath the walls:
you can't meet her in here

you'll have to break the bars

but I'm not wonder woman 
I thought
I don't have that kind of strength

then it said: you don't need it
just look at your hands 

I said: why?
can't comfort and purpose... just be roommates?

but the key was here in my hands
wide-eyed in wonder 
I gasped, like a child discovering sugar
that my cry had reached a star

turns out 'here' 
was tied to my perception
routine was just locked up comfort.

and 'there' 
freedom — was always within my grasp.
no wonder.

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Heart Call:

Your future self will thank you if you take risks outside of what you’ve always known. Mine did.

• where do you feel stuck as an adult?

• what small action can you take this week outside your comfort zone?

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Photo Credits: Gaelle Marcel.