The Spiral Library

An organized collection of musings, inspiration, creation, questions, answers, thoughts, feelings, and more.

Poem №041
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №041

There are certain lessons
you can only learn through living

It was never about perfection
or getting it right

Your job
is to show up
to the practice
and bear witness
to what arises
on the path into
the great unknown

The challenge
is to meet yourself
with curiosity
questioning
what you thought you knew

All along the way
you’ll have to choose
the next right step
on a nonlinear
spiraling path

And each time you face
a lesson you thought
you’d already learned

You’ll be invited
to surrender
to the journey
and find compassion
for your process

Remember this
courage one:

You don’t walk
the path alone

There’s infinite expansion
in the practice

And perfection
was always
a dead-end road

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Poem №040
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №040

Wonder to the edge of hope
throw yourself into the space
where everything you thought you knew
meets everything you never dared say out loud

Let yourself imagine
the unimaginable

Paint the sky with the
vivid colors of your dreams

Watch your world
turn upside down

Face the fear
of letting go
breaking down
cracking open
no return

He said I contain multitudes

Now look at you
on the edge of hope
larger than life
expanding in a whole new way

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Poem №038
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №038

Upon waking
I want nothing more
Than to escape

Falling back
Asleep
There’s no relief

I’m turned
Upside down
By my subconscious

This kind of sleep
Magnifies
The anxious mind

Back into
The unforgiving
Waking world

I face the ache
Of avoiding discomfort

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Poem №036
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №036

Mom!
Ready?

Yes!

They climb to the top
joy beaming from
their triumphant grins.

Over their shoulders
they look to me
for proof of my
unwavering attention.

The air
smells like summer
and we have
nowhere else to be
but here.

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Poem №035
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №035

From the origin of you
I arrived in a flood
Of life and blood

In the cradle of your arms
You found belonging in my being
Finally, a place to attach meaning

You held on tight
Determined never to let go
Of the unconditional love
Finally, within your grasp

But nothing
Could ever
Fill the shape
Of the empty place
Where your own love
Belongs

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Poem №034
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №034

Birth is an alarming entry
From the dark cave
Of a mother’s womb
We are spit out
Into the wilderness
Of an unforgiving world

And we begin the journey
Raw, vulnerable,
With the jagged edges
Of all the unlearned lessons
From every life you’ve already lived

Like rough stones
Dropped into an ocean,
Our life becomes a series
Of ebbs and flows
As each wave pulls us
This way and that,
Smoothing out our rough edges,
Dragging us through
The same lessons
Again and again

Though you will resist
With all your strength,

Your first invitation:
Is to release the control
You never really had,
And to surrender yourself
To the experience of returning
Again and again
To the lesson you thought you learned,
The pain you thought you healed,

And to return
To the most jagged
Of wounded edges,
The ones that ask
For the kind of healing
That requires
A lifetime
Of being rolled
Over and over
In the inner ocean

And slowly, but slowly,
As you meet your many layers
With the intimacy
Of a lifelong partner
As you become the adoring
Companion of your own heart
And the roughest
Of your edges soften
You’ll find the pearl
Of unconditional love
That resides within you
Polished by a lifetime
Of being nurtured by
Your inner ocean

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Poem №033
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №033

Lost in a fog

Disconnected
Uncomfortable

Uncertain
Of the ground
Beneath my feet

Longing for the safety
In belonging

I can’t find my way back
To anything familiar

And I drift further
Into the fog
Until I finally
I give up the fight
And let go
In surrender.

Get quiet
Listen closely
To the very thing
You’re avoiding

Give voice
To the lost part

Do the unthinkable
And step fully
Into the discomfort

Let it rise within
Let it take you under

And in the surrender
Watch the fog lift
As you come up for air

Feel yourself release
In relief
As your feet
Touch the ground
Again

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Poem №031
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №031

Let yourself fall
From the pedestal

Let your armor
Break and fall away

Inside of you is
Everything
You’ve been searching for

And all the light
You were afraid
You’d never find

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Poem №030
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №030

You want so badly
To “let it go”
To “move on”
To “get over it”

But you were never meant to be the kind of person
Who could blindly force your way
To the peak of the mountain
They built on the backs of others

The world you’re moving toward
Requires your whole self
And while the world may tell you differently,
That, my love, is your magic wand, your super power

So you slow down
You get quiet
You breathe into the tightness in your chest
Into the resistance that puts the brakes on
Like a toddler who will not be made to walk to the car

And you listen
You listen for the whispers
From the parts of you
Who are unwilling to be forced forward any longer
To the parts of you
That demand to be cared for
Listened to, honored

And as with any “unreasonable” toddler
When you get curious,
When you meet yourself with gentle inquiry
Instead of force, impatience, irritation
These parts willingly offer you the keys
You need to unlock the dam
That’s blocking your flow

And your job is to continue to go slowly
To not rush the process
To move with exquisite care
As you journey toward a world
That would shock your ancestors

A world where the compass that guides you
Points toward love, generosity,
Abundance in community

Where belonging is found
In an ocean of unconditional support and guidance
Imbued in all that is seen and unseen

Where freedom comes from knowing
And honoring your whole self
With unwavering and radical self-love

I need you to know that
While the tools you used to get yourself this far
Won’t help you on this next step of the adventure,
The well of love you’ve uncovered
Can take you anywhere and everywhere

So, take your own hand
Move with abundant care
Let loving kindness be your compass
And I’ll meet you there
Where they never dreamed we could go
The place only our hearts know

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Poem №029
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №029

I’m tired of trying to figure it all out and get it all right.

I want to live the experience of my unfolding,
to be present in the moments of discovery,
to lean into the embrace of the unknown.

I’m tired of trying to catch up to a place
I think I should have already arrived at.

I want to wake up to this moment.
This life.
The sound of this home creaking in the night.
The particular smell of the damp moss this spring.
The exact shape of my child’s face at nearly eight years old.

I’m tired of believing I haven’t done enough,
of the urgency to be and do more,
endlessly racing toward an ever-moving finish line.

I want to lie down on the floor
and feel time flash by
and realize the miracle
of my being, breathing, unproductive,
and the sky didn’t fall.

I want to cook pasta with the windows open,
music playing and candles lit.

I want to dance in circles
while I stir the boiling water,
add the pesto,
chop the tomatoes,
and lick the juice from my fingers.

I want to sit down slowly at the table
surrounded by my people,
fresh flowers from the garden
perfuming the air,
and nowhere to be but here.

I want my mind to be emptied of the lists
and purified of the judgment that measures up to no one.

I want each breath to be a prayer to this present moment.

May I live into the details of this life,
the damp moss in spring,
my children’s changing faces,
a home that creaks and speaks in the night,
pesto pasta melting on our tongues.

May my body relax into these moments,
letting the stress and fear,
urgency and rushing,
melt down my spine and into the earth.

May this life be a living, breathing, poetic unfolding.

May I be alive and awake enough to experience it.

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Poem №028
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №028

If I could give you one thing right now
It would be permission.

Permission to set down expectations
And move toward desire.

Permission to let go of urgency
And sink into presence.

Permission to stop trying to do like them
And do it your way.

Permission to forgive yourself
And become your own adoring best friend.

Permission to stop hiding
And let yourself be seen.

Permission to let go of worst-case scenarios
And trust that everything is unfolding in right-timing.

Permission to
Know what you really know
Feel what you really feel
Say what you really mean
Do what you really want.

But this kind of permission
Is not mine to give.

This kind of permission breaks chains
Heals ancestral wounds
Opens portals to other realms.

And only you
Can give yourself
That kind of power.

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Poem №027
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №027

To those who wander, seeking, searching:

Let yourself be led deep
into the wildness within you.

Let this place inside you flourish,
nurtured by your undivided attention.

Let this place inside guide
you through the world.

Let it take you to places you
never dreamed were possible.

Let it hold you.
Let it heal you.
Let it set you free.

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Poem №026
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №026

She was afraid of abandoning
Didn’t want to be left alone
She wanted desperately to belong

So she twisted in knots
trying to fit the molds
of everyone around her

But she wasn’t made that way
she cared too much
and felt too deeply
and saw things too clearly

So, one day
she stopped.

And she quit
trying so hard
for everyone else
and began
loving herself
into freedom.

She finally belonged
to herself

Where she fit
just right

And was never
alone again.

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Poem №025
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №025

I face the dragon
With sword and shield
I tense my muscles
Bracing for impact
I want to retreat
To run and hide
But I can see relief
On the other side

But as I step forward
I realize the dragon
Lives within me and
To get to the light
I have to brave my dark inside
Where the dragon awaits
In a cloud of shame

Once inside
I’m surprised to find
My only job
Is to hold the beast
With unconditional love
Until she feels safe enough
To simply rest

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Poem №024
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №024

The only way out
is though.

A tunnel of discomfort
lined with thorns of shame.

I’ve been here
a thousand times.

And it still makes me
want to hide.

It was never safe
to feel this much.

Stomach turns,
heart pounding.

It takes courage to pause
in the eye of the storm.

Breath slowly softens
the tightness in my chest.

This is me practicing a new way
of being with what’s present
and caring for my whole self.

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Poem №023
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №023

The sky is a perfect blue
Punctuated by white puffy clouds
The mountains rise like giants
Watching over the valley
We gathered wildflowers
And brought them to our first home
We walked through the forests
And filled our lungs with healing

My heart aches to say goodbye
This place holds a piece of me
And so many other parts of me don’t belong here
I don’t know how to wrap my whole self up
I don’t know how to hold the whole thing
And maybe that’s okay

But my heart aches
And I’m not used to staying open to the ache
I’m not used to staying when I could run
Or unraveling when I could numb

So I turn forward the blue sky
And I drive towards the mountains
And I’ll sit with the wildflowers
And I’ll breathe another breath
And I’ll let the ache take me with it
And maybe there I’ll touch the wholeness
Of the thing I’m so afraid to let go of

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Poem №022
Writing Raina Jung Writing Raina Jung

Poem №022

There are moments in life
that you’ll want
to hold onto so tightly
you’ll try to squeeze
every bit out of them
hoping by some miracle
they’ll never end

And in all your efforting
to be fully present
to soak it all in
to make the most of it
you’ll forget to
let go of control
and just be there
in the details
with the parts
that will only ever exist
in that one precious moment.

So your invitation is
to embrace the grief
of the inevitable ending
the potential forgetting
the heartache of time passing

And trust that
what was meant for you
will stay with you
imprinted on your heart
long after the mind
can no longer reach it.

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“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.”


Eckhart Tolle

Finding Stillness
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