Seeing into the Heart of Things
- Apr 19
- 2 min read
By Brenda Jacobsen
PROMPT — Who am I today?
I’ve been thinking about the way the candlelight is dimming now as the wicks are sinking into a deep pool of wax, as if almost drowning in their own beauty.
I’ve been thinking about the teary- eyed beauty that hits me when the sun sets on a quiet sea, when a writer articulates prose so keenly I am forced to pause and look away, or when a red cardinal arrives in his royal robes and stand on the crust of the snow as if to say, here I am, love me for a moment but not forever.
I’ve been thinking about aging as I turned 65 this year, and it's a moment to reflect on how time has flown and what it means for my journey so far. Where did those years go? What have I done with my life so far? Where am I going next?
I’ve been thinking about journeys. I walked part of the Camino de Santiago in Spain last year with two friends. Walking 100 miles in a week over hilly, rocky, and smooth terrain was a challenge and a trip we were excited about. When we met fellow pilgrims on the path, we quickly learned to greet each person with the words, "Buon Camino," which means "have a good walk." I wish I had the wherewithal back then to pour my thoughts and dreams into a bottle, carry it home, and place it on a shelf with a label that read, ‘Remember This.’ Better yet, all I gained and learned lives within me. I completed the walk and was surprised by myself for having done so.
I met strangers on the path, from all over the world, and we became friends. The power grid went out in all of Spain and Portugal for a day or two, and I was there. We couldn’t rely on phones. Darkness enveloped our rooms, for there was no light inside; if we wanted a shower, it was cold.
I’ve been thinking about how I continue to walk in my neighborhood, on trails, and at the beach. A pilgrimage can be out of my front door. A pilgrimage is a journey I can take without ever leaving my home, just as I am writing now in my journal—unfolding a story word by word, line by line, and seeing where it takes me.
Brenda Jacobsen was born in London, Ontario, and resides in Norwalk, CT. She received a Master's in Education from Sacred Heart University. As a trained writing facilitator through the Amherst Writers & Artists Association, she has studied at the Westport Writers’ Workshop in CT and at Kathy Fish's Flash fiction workshops. Brenda’s work has appeared in FlashFlood, Pathos to Play Anthology, Amherst Writers & Artists anthology, Purple Sofa Writers Collection, Wordrunner Chapbooks, among other places.
