When we are young, so very young our hearts were full of the joy of life.

We delighted in all that we saw, eager to learn, eager to grow.

Then time begins to take its toll and wears away even the essence of our spirit.

By the time we are adults, the sensitivity of our young spirit has been forever hardened. We hide who and what we are...safely locking it away in a prison cell.

We learn to play the game of life, give the world what it wants and what it expects. We are shorn of our ability to trust, to reach out, to care. We hide our sorrows, quickly wipe away our silent tears and protect our hearts with a solid impenetrable vault.

Slowly, even before we realize it, we begin to die. Our true self retreats further and further into the darkness, until there is only a faint shadow left, until we don't even recognize the stranger that lives deeply within us.

I don't wanna grow old and turn to stone. I want to feel all the joys and sorrows of my life. I want to create beauty and to delight in the simple things. I want to embrace the dawn and feel the resurrection of the sun filling my heart. I want to squeal with delight in learning new truths, discovering new epiphanies. I want to have the courage to not let the world and the brutality of life destroy my spirit or crush my heart.

I don't want to loose who I am, what I am, what I stand for in my heart and my spirit. I don't want to be afraid to care, to love, to be gentle, to create beauty, to give hope. For if I loose all of those treasures, then my life truely will be over and there will no longer be any reason to continue along life's path.

"I've Gotta Be Me"

Whether I'm right or whether I'm wrong

Whether I find a place in this world or never belong

I gotta be me, I've gotta be me

What else can I be but what I am

I want to live, not merely survive

And I won't give up this dream

Of life that keeps me alive

I gotta be me, I gotta be me

The dream that I see makes me what I am

That far-away prize, a world of success

Is waiting for me if I heed the call

I won't settle down, won't settle for less

As long as there's a chance that I can have it all

I'll go it alone, that's how it must be

I can't be right for somebody else

If I'm not right for meI gotta be free, I've gotta be free

Daring to try, to do it or die

I've gotta be me

I'll go it alone, that's how it must be

I can't be right for somebody else

If I'm not right for me

I gotta be free, I just gotta be free

Daring to try, to do it or die

I gotta be me

Sammy Davis Jr

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Pat O'Connor

January 22, 2007