The Parts of Us We Left Behind

“You are a whole that exists to live a life, not half a life.” — Khalil Gibran

These words from Gibran’s book “The Prophet" resonate so deeply with me. Do they speak to you as well? Do you believe them? (You can read more of the passage below in our poetry section.)

So many of us are walking around living half a life and feeling disconnected from ourselves. So many of us have extinguished parts of ourselves simply to make it through, to survive.

A half-life seems like all many can live, or perhaps all many feel they can handle these days. And it’s not just us! Our entire country feels like it’s living split in half, unable to find its way to the whole of its destiny, or the whole of its power.

Not too long ago, I was speaking to a wise friend whose words hit home in a deep and profound way. He said, "You know, Maria, you are not living with your whole life force. You are walking around with a part of you that is dead and extinguished. You are choosing less life to stay safe in your life.” Then he said, “You must reintegrate the part of you that died so that you can step fully into your whole life force."