The Spiritual Human: a poetic guide to Life on Earth

PrefaceAs with everything in my life now, this book is the product of inspiration - inspiration that bubbled up within me, first as a few poems appearing in my blog, then as nudges to submit some of my poetry to contests (which resulted in winning a third place award and publishing contract), and finally as visions of how to organize this book.Why poetry? That's a great question and certainly one I've asked myself. I've always enjoyed writing, but typically it was prose, with the occasional silly rhyming poem created for a niece's birthday. For a year, I enjoyed writing my daily blog sharing my thoughts and perspectives on life. So it came as a surprise to me when suddenly poetry started flowing from my fingers, seeking expression and form. I watched as the poems easily conveyed emotions, energies and concepts in ways that my prose didn't. When the vision came for the organization of the book, I marveled at the way life had arranged everything so perfectly - 90% of the poems I had written would work together to create a guide book, a poetic guide to life on Earth. By using poetry to convey complex concepts via simple stories and analogies, The Spiritual Human would offer readers a practical (yet melodious) resource on how to "do life" successfully as a human being.We begin by delving into the human scene that we all experience, followed by an exploration of our diverse, and many times confusing, emotions. Then we journey into self-love, which is a prerequisite for everything that follows.When we value and love ourselves, we are ready to learn new tools and techniques for cultivating awareness and a new perspective on life - so we can begin to enjoy life. Then it's time to reach out toward others, to expand our circle of love even wider.With a supportive loving community in place, we are ready to understand what it is to have true, intimate soul love with a partner. And as we live from a place of love for ourselves, our community, and our life mate, we can step even deeper into the ocean of love as we begin to understand how we are all connected; that, in fact, we are all one.Finally, we grasp what it means to live peacefully and happily, following our internal knowing, and accepting life just as it is. We learn how to merge the human and the spiritual aspects of ourselves, to live fully as a spirit in a human body - to be a spiritual human.I offer this poetic guide to life on Earth as a gift of love, from my heart to yours. I hope that you feel the words touching your soul, penetrating your every cell, and awakening the vibrant, magnificent essence at your core. It is your divine birthright to be happy, to feel fulfilled, to love and be loved, to know peace in every circumstance, and to delight in being alive. I invite you to use this guide book to transform your life, empower yourself, and live your joy.With my deepest love,Elise