“The ashes to beauty story:” and the story of the phoenix which is:

“The phoenix is a mythic bird with golden plumage whose story has been told throughout the ages. The Egyptians called the bird the phoenix and believed that every five hundred years she renewed her quest for her true self. Knowing that a new way could be found only with the death of her worn-out habits, defenses and beliefs, the phoenix built a pyre of cinnamon and myrrh, sat in the flames and burned to death. Then, she rose from the ashes as a new being- a fusion of who she had been before and who she had become. A new bird, yet ever more herself; changed, and at the same time the eternal Phoenix. Of the phoenix bird, the Roman poet Ovid said, “most beings spring from other individuals, but there is a certain kind that reproduces itself.” 

“You and I are the phoenix. We, too, can reproduce ourselves from the shattered pieces of a difficult time. Our lives ask us to die and to be reborn every time we confront change- change within ourselves down to the bottom of a loss, and dwell patiently, with an open heart, in the darkness and pain, we can bring back up with us the sweetness of life and the exhilaration of inner growth. When there is nothing left to lose, we find the true self- the self that is whole, the self that is enough, the self that no longer looks to others for definition, a completion, or anything but companionship on the journey. “

“This is the way to live a meaningful and hopeful life- a life of real happiness and inner peace.” (from “Broken Open” by Elizabeth Lesser)