“Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond…” — Mark Twain
A few months ago I discovered a new song; It is a collaboration between Dinah Washington and Max Richter called ‘This Bitter Earth and On the Nature of Daylight,’ and together it bridges a 44-year-old gap between the two recordings.
In the song, she says, ‘And if my life is like the dust that hides the glow of the Rose, ‘What good am I?’
These words struck a chord in me, because the truth is, if I am not living an authentic, passionate life, and if I am not able to express myself fully with others, then ‘what good am I, to myself or the world?’ And if I’m not able to do this, then how will I receive the fullness and abundance that life has to offer me?
And so, the question is, ‘What is hiding my authentic nature and truth?’ Is it fear, anger, injustice, or ancestral or childhood trauma? And although this earth can feel bitter and difficult to move through at times, when I give myself permission to feel these wounds and heal over time, I am given the opportunity to bear beautiful fruit, and to share this with everyone I meet.
LIVING IN THIS MOMENT 
Yes it is through our healing and rising above our past that we are able to comfort and encourage those struggling that are placed in our paths. It is as you shared when our true authentic self is unmasked, and yes we continue to struggle yet in the midst of all that, beautiful fruit emerges to bring light and love into the lives of others and ourselves as we share it.