One of my favorite stories growing up was that of The Velveteen Rabbit, in which a small, stuffed rabbit is given to a young boy as a Christmas gift.

At first, the rabbit was cherished by the boy, though – in time, he was soon forgotten; replaced by those much shinier toys with springs and gadgetry to abound.

The Rabbit, once assured of his value, felt suddenly ‘so very much out of place.’ He wanted to be loved, he wanted to fit in – and, yet? He lost himself in that space of needing to belong.

How easily we forget our place, distracted by our own narrowed thoughts and a self-doubt which inevitably finds us there. We want to believe that a ‘perfect fit’ exists for each and every one of us. We need to know our home.

Though, as the poet James Baldwin once so keenly observed; perhaps home isn’t a place rather, an irrevocable condition? And, perhaps we feel displaced when we become disconnected from that knowing?

I’ve often wondered, what if all this time spent seeking were allocated to another cause? That is to say, appreciating where we find ourselves at this present moment?

In time, the Rabbit grew to understand – that, we all find our place in this paradox of life. We learn, we grow… but most importantly, we become. We become the beautiful soul we were destined to be.

And, it doesn’t happen all at once.

And, it doesn’t happen through tucking away.

It happens by way of each painstaking pinch in which we’ve forced to greet life, just as it is.

“Weeks passed, and the little Rabbit grew very old and shabby, but the Boy loved him just as much. He loved him so hard that he loved all his whiskers off, and the pink lining to his ears turned grey, and his brown spots faded. He even began to lose his shape, and he scarcely looked like a rabbit any more, except to the Boy. To him he was always beautiful, and that was all that the little Rabbit cared about. He didn’t mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn’t matter.”

Indeed, we find our place through being just as we are. And, when we allow ourselves to just simply be loved.

A little something to consider, my friends…

In peace…

Namaste ❤️