Gettin' dirty/gettin' clean

Most of us are afraid of mucking around in dirt, mud. We love the clean looks we see in the mirror, and we'd like to keep it that way.

This corner knows better than that. Life is not always a clean affair. And that is great. Do you know what is in that mud? Nutrients, vitamins, minerals, nourishment. The things that help you grow. Beyond the mud. I appreciate the mud. I am grateful for the mud, for it grows me. I look clean, but it's because of the mud, the dirt. I appreciate the sun and stars above me more because of that life-giving mud. I haven't forgotten its feel, its taste, its roughness against my skin.

I know all this. I've lived all this. I can't be afraid of the mud because I have been there. It's as much as a part of me as the sun and stars.

I stretch out from the mud to the stars.