Bradlee Zrudlo

So Beautiful – a poem

So Beautiful This dance of pain, exhaustion, joy and loveIs so so beautifulHow could I trade the way I am and the ways I experience lifeWhen it leads to such depth of feeling?The love I feel in my heart for humanity this morning is so preciousSo all encompassing, pure and full of tendernessAnd yet theContinue reading “So Beautiful – a poem”

Rejoicing and Grieving

Rejoicing and grieving. Two seemingly opposing feelings, and yet, I have felt them both most of the week. I wonder if that is how a birch tree feels? It is always growing, yet shedding its bark. I learn a lot from nature. It is always teaching me how to relate to myself more kindly andContinue reading “Rejoicing and Grieving”

Sitting with disappointment – a poem

Sitting with disappointment Here I am.Disappointed.I know disappointment is a part of life.I know that others will disappoint meAnd I will disappoint them.It doesn’t make it any easier when I’m feeling disappointed though.So here I am.Disappointed and writing about it.Writing about it helps me to be with my disappointment.To keep it company and to letContinue reading “Sitting with disappointment – a poem”

The burden I carry

I have become more aware of the emotional wounds I have lately. Over the last several years, I have often felt very heavy, tired and weighed down. It’s like I am carrying a heavy load that is made up of all the past hurts and traumatic events in my life. Some days, I don’t evenContinue reading “The burden I carry”

Under the ice

Last week, I wrote a post that had me full of inspiration. I was feeling like I had been in a metaphorical block of ice and I was enjoying the process of melting. I was feeling free, energized and whole, and it was glorious. But, the melting didn’t stop there. Instead, I started feeling moreContinue reading “Under the ice”

Melting

This morning when I woke up, I thought of melting. I had an image in my mind of me being in an ice block and how I have been thawing out and melting away those layers of hardness and rigidity that I was aware of but couldn’t just push or wish away. It appears IContinue reading “Melting”

A Compassionate Speaker

I had dreams of becoming a motivational speaker for the last several years. I could see myself on a stage, talking to people, and sharing love, compassion, funny stories and the deep, messy and rawness of being a human. This afternoon though, I realized that my dreams have changed. I no longer want to beContinue reading “A Compassionate Speaker”

Getting caught up

As an empath, it is easy for me to get caught up in the feelings someone brings to their interactions with me. Recently, I have been temporarily overwhelmed by the intensity of what I am feeling, and it’s like I am stuck in a maze of those feelings. Sometimes for hours, or even a dayContinue reading “Getting caught up”

Changing landscapes

Today is the last day of 2023, and I am feeling self-reflective. I have long wanted to write about how the view outside of my front window changes depending on the time of day and the weather and season. The photo above is from early in the morning last week. I awoke to a warmContinue reading “Changing landscapes”

Done

Sometimes I am done. I have nothing more to give, no more capacity to think things through, or to deal with differing opinions constructively or compassionately. When I am in this place, I rest. When cookies are finished baking, there is no point in keeping them in the oven because they’ll just burn. With people,Continue reading “Done”