I took this picture on a recent walk.

I’ve always been fascinated by wrought iron gates.

Gates are a common image in guided meditations, in dreams, on a walk.

For me, they represent entrances into a mysterious place, my inner realm.

Gates have appeared at many important times of my life.

There was a gate into the yard of office of my Samyama practitioner when I was processing early grief. (And it matched a gate I’ve often seen in a dream)

I used to love swinging on the gate to my yard as a child. I can still remember the feeling of freedom that I felt as I was doing it.

This gate is locked, AND it is not attached to anything on either side.

We easily walked around it.

Gates can represent entrance into something wonderful, or they can block passage to a place that is forbidden, (at least in some stories or dreams) or a place that we don’t want to enter.

Maybe, if we look closer, the gates that we think are keeping us safe, that we don’t want to enter aren’t attached either. Maybe upon closer examination, there is a way around.

Grief can feel like this sometimes.

It feels like a locked gate, and we avoid it at all costs because we don’t want to go to a place that is unfamiliar. Grief can feel like uncharted territory.

What if we find that when we go through the gate, we are greeted by a guide who will show us how to meet our grief with grace? That’s what happened for me when I when through that gate early in my grief journey.

What will you find when you go through the gated you come across in your journey?

You need only to be willing to enter.