Entering the Swamp

You can’t think your way out of the swamp.

Some parts of life don’t respond to answers—
only to being met.

These aren’t blog posts.
They’re places you might recognize yourself.

Drawn from my life as a blind palliative care chaplain living with Parkinson’s, these stories weave real experience with metaphor—because sometimes truth can only be felt sideways.

There’s no right way to read them.
No single message you’re supposed to “get.”

Start anywhere.
Just notice what stirs.

Or follow the path.

Sharon Burniston Sharon Burniston

When There Is No Way Around

There are moments when the path forward disappears—
and everything in you wants out.

This is where the swamp begins.

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Sharon Burniston Sharon Burniston

How to Love a Swamp Monster

The swamp has a way of putting the exact creature you least want to face directly in your path.

Again.
And again.
And again.

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Sharon Burniston Sharon Burniston

HERE

In the swamp, people often ask “Why?”

But sometimes another question quietly begins asking itself beneath the surface.

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Sharon Burniston Sharon Burniston

The Sea of Shame

There is a place in the swamp where you don’t face the world—
you face yourself.

Most people don’t stay here long.

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Sharon Burniston Sharon Burniston

Alone / Not Alone

Alone / Not Alone

You can be surrounded and still feel unreachable.

Or alone—and finally able to hear yourself.

Both are true.

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Sharon Burniston Sharon Burniston

When HERE Isn’t Enough

Sometimes the swamp is too painful for soft answers,
silver linings,
or kitten-sized comfort.

And still,
something beautiful, fierce, or unexpectedly alive can meet us there.

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If something in you recognized itself here—
you’re already on the path back.