When I observe my eight year old in action, nothing weighs him down. Effortless excitement leaps into a present-moment thrill, and he flies with wings that lift him from any doom that lay beneath. Bright lightness of being dims gradually, as life circumstances threaten the freedom of his imagination, the security of his emotional well-being, and limit his natural response for play, song, and movement. His innocence knows nothing of such possibility, a naivete fragile enough to shatter by the interference of the surrounding world.

Yet interference of great magnitude has affected us all. Parents, teachers, and the environment that bolsters boundaries around the freedom of expression, begins to deteriorate one’s truth early in life. The weight of these limits begins to press upon expectations, cognitive functioning, and emotional stability. Our wings begin to crumple under duress, eliminating flight. Ego, competition, and the mind replace living from the heart, intuition, and essence. Grounded until an awakening, the mending of the disruption, deterioration, and dilution of our spirit, navigates us back to our original form, enabling our life purpose to arise again. Without the inner healing, a weight burdens us, preventing a life with ultimate meaning.

Freeing our souls from the outside expectations, allowing a heart-centered moral compass to rule our behavior, and unleashing the intuition that guides each of us, lighten the heaviness that weighs us down. Materialized excess pounds act as a reminder to return to our original path of purpose and essence. Releasing the physical weight and this metaphoric boulder signifies a heart’s freedom and reveal a path to present-moment living where stillness, presence, and intuition live. With wisdom, the release of captivity from judgment, and freedom to follow the essence of who we are, allows our wings to resurface. Flight follows, weight of life dissipates, and we soar. The heart opens, essence illuminates, and we fly effortlessly.