“All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of the House of Eorl and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death.”

    “What do you fear, lady?” he asked.

    “A cage,” she said. “To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.”
    ~Eowyn, The Return of the King, JRR Tolkien

Today my spirit longs to make giant spirit-sized snow angels, under a great big starry sky. No limits, no boundaries, and no cages. She wants this girl to burn the cages.

Of course, my spirit has always been free, as spirits always are. But this woman steering my spirit’s sails by compass has kept her in invisible cages most of her life. I remember giant leaps and hearts on my sleeve and the rush of spirit waving arms and legs back and forth in newly expanded heart spaces. This happened a lot up until I was ten years old. Then the cage went up; though the door was still open. The door eventually closed, and the cage got smaller. But my spirit never shrank. No, spirits do not shrink. Yet mine would really like room to growgrowgrow and shineshineshine.

My spirit cares for my body and wants me to take care of it. But she also wants me to remember my Divinity in every moment, and she wants me to practice connecting to it, too. My spirit is so wise and gentle. She does not deserve to be in a cage. She only stayed in my cages because she didn’t want to leave me behind.. but she was free to go, whenever she wanted. Such love, that she stayed with me all this time. Such love deserves to be listened to.