Growing While Standing Still

I wrote a poem a long time ago; in 1993 I believe. It was at the beginning of my career at a time in my life when I yearned to shed the known for the unknown, to break away from the small-town girl I had been and discover who I wanted to be. At the time, I believed that personal growth came from physical movement.

Fifteen years after writing this poem, almost to the date, I moved back to my small-town. I was tired of physical movement and was looking for a different kind of personal growth, the kind that happens from the inside out not the outside in; the kind that doesn’t come from external experiences.

This poem has been posted at every desk and every job I’ve ever had. It has inspired me and helped me. As I read this poem now, I realize it may just be time to write the next verse – the one about how good it feels to have learned how to grow while standing still.
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I walked outside, I don’t know where, between the earth and sky.
Birds flew above, streams raced below,
But I stopped and I stood still.

I heard a song upon the wind, a song I’d known before,
By heart I sang this tune I knew,
While I was standing still.

The wind brought clouds against blue sky and soon my song was gone.
The clouds sang loud but I did not,
While I was standing still.

The rain soon came to feed the earth and all who use its wealth.
It wet the ground with its new song
While I was standing still.

I dodged the drops that fell on all – all, that is, but me.
And all things grew around my feet
While I was standing still.

The flowers came, after the rain, and sang their own new song.
I reached for them but could not touch
While I was standing still.

You see, this rain gave strength to all – all, that is, but me.
For I stood still and dry and safe
And sang the same old song.

The storm, its power, force and face, was screaming down at me.
“Do not stay dry, come feel my song
and I will help you grow.”

Right then I left my safe, dry spot and walked out in the rain.
And I got wet and very cold,
But I sang my own new song.

I sang and I moved on.