And so,
today she stopped hiding it.
She decided to go on a journey
with her baggage.

She carried all of it
to the land
that nurtured the soles of her feet.

She wore a tiny crown.
Because her baggage
as much as it had been a weight and
a secret;
a shame,
and messy embarrassment,
was also that which made her to be
who she was!

So she ritualized it.
She took a deep breath
deeper than Lake Baikal
in Siberia and spoke,
"I declare my baggage
a celebration of myself!"

The winds swelled like a pregnant sea.
and licked her face
kissing away her salty tears.
The moon cried
out of gratitude
that something so small
could carry so much honesty.

She realized that her journey
would go easier
and be lighter
if she released what she no longer needed.

She was attached to her baggage!
How would she dispose of it?
She sorted and piled up the stories
and the pieces
and took away only what could fit
into one small bag.

She stood with her back
to the weight of old things
and waited
for the song of the universe
to guide her further.

- Stasha Ginsburg | The Wild Matryoshka

Artist: Joana Kruse