Welcome home. I'm Dr. Tama, a minister, licensed psychologist and sacred artist. And this

is Homecoming, a podcast to facilitate your journey home to yourself. While I will provide

weekly inspiration and mental health tips, this podcast is not the same as personalized therapy.

I'm so excited you're on the journey. If you want to request specific topics or to submit a

poem for me to read on the podcast, email me at homecomingpodcastsatgmail.com. Also to build our

community, don't forget to like, subscribe, and share. Let's begin. Welcome home co-journers. I'm

glad you're here for another episode and I'm so appreciative that we have a poem for this week

from Lena Molene. And the poem is entitled, I haven't written in a while. And it reads, I haven't

written in a while because I couldn't pick up the pen. The pen was filled with hurt, disappointment,

anger, and would expose places that I didn't want to go and things I didn't want to feel. I

haven't written in a while because I would have to admit that sometimes my smile is layered and

I would rather not face what I am feeling. So I moved around the pen, distancing myself as far

as I could because somehow I knew that the pen just might force me to do something and I wasn't

ready to do it. I fought with the pen, angry because it knows all the things that I am keeping from

everyone else. The pen knows the journey. The pen knows the highs and the pen knows the lows.

Yes, it sits neglected, muscled in my drawer, unable to tell my story. But one day,

I left the drawer open and the light shined through. The pen's radiant glow reminded me that it was

mightier than the sword and that it could not oppose growth, laughter, or love. It wanted to

encourage me when I was sad and angry. It wanted me to heal and speak unapologetically and

unedited. The pen didn't judge me nor did I need to qualify myself in its presence.

I didn't have to fear the pen, but rather embrace the power that it gives. When I picked up the pen

again, I realized that I had it all wrong. I had been writing all along, but I needed the pen so

...