When Sting released the song Fields of Gold, I instantly fell in love with it.
For me, the song tells a story, in reflection, in the present and of the days to come.
In other words, it tells of a journey.
We go on many journeys in life and some we look back on, thinking: “Thank God that’s over“, while others we still lose our breath because of.
Every good destination reached required a journey to get there and it was along that journey that we learned what we needed to make it a final destination.
Here are 25 pictures, in no particular order or ranking, which speak of a journey that a BabyGirl takes and the emotions, insecurities, wishes, hopes and dreams she discovers along her journey to an Ever After.
For the next 25 days, I’ll add one caption (one story) at a time:
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How to be an Angel …
Gazing up at him with those dazzling baby brown eyes, she was breath-taking as she lay on the bed they made, in a field of gold as beautiful as the song.
She had been so reserved all her life. It was wonderful to see her delight in the events that produced her JBF hair.
And as the sensations still rippled through her like the soft breeze through the fortress of reeds around her, she parted her delicate lips to speak.
“Daddy, was I a good girl?” she whispered, clutching the sheet around her at the snap of his camera.
“Yes, BabyGirl,” he said with the endless pride, present in a Daddy’s heart. “You were an angel.”
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How to take a step forward … in a field of gold.
She wandered aimlessly through that same field of gold her mind always took her to when she lost the battle to insecurity.It was there in that field that she felt at peace with so many things about herself which seemed out of place in her everyday life. (And for a BabyGirl, finding peace of mind is a quest she will go on each day as if it were a journey she had never taken before.)
And as everything around her seemed to invite her and who she was, her security was renewed because it was that field of gold which possessed the safety and protection of the world her Daddy created for her and kept her within.
And all she needed to do to live in that field of gold was open her heart to something which was present in each fairy tale she read and held Chivalry as a standard for a life spent living a dream.
Her Daddy was real. And somewhere, he was waiting for her. She just hadn’t met him yet. But knowing he was there was all the peace of mind she needed to take that first step forward.
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“How to Feel Speechless”
“How to Build a Castle”
At the end of the field was a small grassy hill and on the top of that hill was a house.
The sun beamed brilliant from the horizon behind it and it sparkled in the rays.
“Daddy, whose house is that?” she asked him.
“It’s yours, Princess,” her Daddy responded. “And it’s not just a house, it’s a castle.”
“Who built it?” she asked, innocently.
“You did, BabyGirl,” her Daddy responded. “As you looked through life to find your place in this world, your heart found a place it could call home. And it’s that love within you which builds your world now … from the lives you change to the promises you make to the affection you share … to the castles you keep.”
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“How to Find Your Rhythm”
She skipped lightly through the grass, her hair bouncing and the breeze flouncing her long skirt.
For as much as she was lost in her thoughts of the moment, what she had found was a rhythm of life which seemed perfect in so many ways. And the reason had suddenly become clear:
All her life, she had marched to a drumbeat given to her by someone. It wasn’t until she began to make her own music that she found her rhythm.
And it was the man she called Daddy who had opened her ears.
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“How to Find Your GPS”
Her Daddy told her that her heart would never lead her astray.
And she believed him.
She once asked him why she should follow her heart. And his answer had never left her thoughts since that day.
“BabyGirl, what you want and what you need both come from where you’ve been and where you’re headed,” she remembered her Daddy saying. “The decisions you make, you make from an impulse, an emotion and from hope. And it is that hope which you harbor in your heart.”
“So shouldn’t I follow what I hope for, then?” she recalled asking him.
“Hope is what you do. But the Heart is where it is born,” her Daddy said. “It will enable you to love more deeply than you could’ve imagined, trust more fully then you could’ve believed and possesses the finest GPS you will ever know.”
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“The Importance of Following the Sun”
She stared off into the distance, watching where the golden rays of the sunset were going. Letting her pigtails out, she thought back to the conversation she had with her Daddy as they watched the sunrise early that morning:
“Daddy, how do you live for the moment without losing sight of the future?” she asked.
“You remember what is most important,” her Daddy said. “And the most important things will be different for everyone. The test of a lifetime is finding another soul who sees the same things being important as you do.”
“What’s most important to you?” she asked, innocently.
Her Daddy paused, collected his thoughts and replied softly.
“Lessons,” he whispered.
“What lessons?” she asked.
He paused again and replied softly.
“When two people give, then no one has to take.” “The journey to get to the destination is just as important as reaching it.” “Remembering what others have done for you and saying thank you to them.” “Giving freely of yourself and feeling good about it.” “Remembering to love yourself as much as you love others.” “Remembering that kindness bridges gaps and shared tears can quench fires.”Her Daddy paused again before adding one more thought.
“And every once in a while – taking the time to slow down and follow the path of the sun from its beginning to its glorious end.”
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“How to Follow Your Own Lead”
“Daddy, I sometimes don’t know what to do, what direction to take and wish the decisions I had to make would be clearer to me,” the BabyGirl confessed. “How do you find your way again once you get lost?”
“The Best way to get un-lost is to go back to a point when you had found herself,” her Daddy said.
“But what if you can’t go back?” she asked him. “And what if you can’t remember when you had found yourself?”
“BabyGirl, the struggles of your future will be far greater if you choose to forget the steps you’ve all ready taken,” he said. “But finding yourself is as simple as turn around, retracing those footprints back to the point where it all made sense and then starting. In front of you, you will see the correct decisions you made and the incorrect one as well. It makes it very simple to follow your own lead.”
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“How to be Mighty Like A Rose”
Along her journey, the BabyGirl stopped and plucked a lone red rose which had sprouted at her feet.
It seemed strange a flower would’ve grown in the Field of Gold. And she wondered how it got there until she remembered something her mother once told her when she was little:
“The rose is a flower of love. The world has acclaimed it for centuries. Pink roses are for love – hopeful and expectant. White Roses are for love – dead or forsaken, but the Red Roses, ah the Red Roses are for love triumphant.
Whichever rose you choose, be Mighty Like that Rose and let it become who you are. When it grows at your feet, then you’ll know you chose the right, but don’t forget to be grateful for the reasons why.”
The BabyGirl looked behind her and saw her Daddy, who as promised, would always be her partner and guardian through life. A sense of completion fell over her … and she was indeed Mighty Like A Rose.
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“How to Make All the Right Moves”
“Princess, I’ve noticed that when you approach something new, you hesitate,” her Daddy said, as she stared at the unbeaten path in front of her. “Sometimes, you even back off and don’t give it a try. What is it you fear about things which are new?”
“What I fear is what I don’t know,” the BabyGirl replied honestly. “And it may seem like hesitation, but really – it’s caution.”
“That doesn’t answer the question, Princess,” her Daddy replied in a soft, yet firm voice. “What do you fear?”
The BabyGirl lowered her chin and collected herself before revealing the answer he was looking for. It wasn’t easy to tell him about the paranoias which plagued her and how she couldn’t handle them sometimes.
“I fear … messing up,” she whispered out through her trepidation. “If I don’t know what is to come, then I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I get nervous and try to do what I feel is the right thing to do, but I usually make the wrong move and mess everything up.”
“Princess, you need to stop trying to do what you think other people will think is right and you need to start doing what is right for you,” her Daddy said, softly. “Take one step forward and make it count. Make it work for you and change it if you need to, but don’t ever doubt that your decision was right. People will see your confidence and they’ll follow. Soon, you’ll be a leader, not a follower. You’ll be confident in yourself and then BabyGirl, you’ll make all the right moves.”
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“How to Relive the Future”
At points in time along their walk through the Fields of Gold, the BabyGirl would let go of her Daddy’s hand and run back about twenty feet on the trail, taking her time to walk in the footsteps she had just recently made.
After seeing her do this several times on their journey, her Daddy finally asked her why she retraced her steps.
“It’s because I want to remember where I’ve been and how I got where I am now,” the BabyGirl answered him.
“It sounds like you want to relive the past,” her Daddy said with a tone that made clear he was putting her through a test.
“There’s nothing wrong with reliving the past, Daddy. Is there?” she asked with an innocence to her voice. “Especially if it was your past that was the teacher who led you to where you are now.”
“Very good, BabyGirl,” her Daddy said with a broad smile.
“But I don’t relive my past when I retrace my steps,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “Knowing that you are at the end of those footsteps, waiting for me, I’m reliving my future.”
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“How to LOL”
“Daddy, do you know what LOL means?” the BabyGirl asked with a mind for playfulness.
“Yep,” her Daddy answered with certainty.
“What?” she asked with a giggle, calling his bluff. “What does it mean?”
“It stands for ……… Leopards of Lithuania,“ he said, thinking up a silly response.
“Nope,” she said with another giggle. “Guess again.”
“Light Orange Lamborghini?” he asked as she laughed at him. “Licking Oblong Lollipops? Left Over Lasagna? Lazy Old Labrador? I give up. What does it mean?“
“Laugh Out Loud!” she answered, leaning over and doing that very thing.
“Oh,” he said slyly. “You know what else it might mean?“
“What?” she asked.
“Living Out Life,” he replied. “That’s what laughter allows us to do.”
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“How to Know What You Never Would’ve Known”
You dream. You realize. And then you dream again.
Eventually, if you keep dreaming, you find what you were looking for. And more importantly, you find who you were looking for.
Along the way, you encounter times that may be hard to deal with, but it goes to show you that what you felt, you felt so deeply and so unremittingly that your mind meant what it thought, your eyes wept for what they saw, your ears collected the echoes of what they heard, your lips spoke the truth, your senses were affected by your experiences, your hands cherished what they touched and what they wrote and your heart meant what it felt.
You cherish the things that mean more to you than anything else. You take the breath away from those whose attention and love you desire. You give of yourself until you feel drained, but you do so because you want her to be happy and you want her to feel loved.
You’re grateful for the love you shared, the love you still possess and the love you will share in the future.
You’re grateful for dreaming and for continuing to do so … because if you had never dreamed, you would’ve never known what that kind of love felt like.
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“How to Be Everything to Everyone”
“Daddy, why do people want to make me feel horrible about who I am?” the BabyGirl asked her Daddy. “I try to do things for people, but it’s never good enough. And they always make me feel like I did something wrong. And then I feel like I should apologize to them for who I am. But Why? Why should I apologize for who I am. I can’t be Everything to Everyone.”
“Woah,” her Daddy replied as she took in a breath, near tears from upsetting herself with her own words.
He took her in his arms and rocked her back and forth. She placed the side of her head on his chest, feeling the warmth rising up from his shirt. Inside, her emotions settled, for the moment at least.
“The truth is, Princess, we all should apologize for who we are sometimes, “her Daddy said calmly. “We all say things and do things we shouldn’t. But you don’t need to feel bad for the shortcomings of others.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, honestly.
“Princess, people who believe they shouldn’t apologize for who they are, those are the types of people who feel they have the right to say whatever they want, whenever they want,” he explained. “And in doing so, they abandon decency, common sense, and the simple logic that there is a time and a place for everything.”
She looked up at him, clinging to his body as she listened.
“What they do is upset a lot of people like you who never asked for it,” her Daddy continued. “And why do you think they do this?”
“Because they feel they have the right to,” the BabyGirl replied.
“Exactly, and in doing so, they convince you that everything is your fault,” he said. “You didn’t do anything wrong, BabyGirl. But would you like to know how to actually be Everything to Everyone?”
“How?” she asked.
“Say no to them as much as you say yes,” he replied. “And you’ll be amazed how people suddenly begin to take notice to the things you do for them. And when you say no and People still say Thank You, you’ll be able to spread your wings, throw your arms out and soak in the sun. Because at that moment and each moment after it, you’ll be Everything to Everyone.”
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“How to Pursue a Déjà Vu”
The BabyGirl stopped in mid-stride, staring out into the fields of gold. She seemed entranced, mesmerized by something.
“What do you see, Princess?” her Daddy asked.
“I see myself as a little girl,” she replied. “I remember this. I dreamed it before.”
“The Pursuit of a Déjà Vu,” he replied. “What exactly do you see?”
“I see an image of me looking off into the distance,” she replied.
“Did you dream of the future a lot when you were young?” her Daddy asked.
“All the time,” she said with a smile. “I dreamed of the day when I wouldn’t dream anymore.”
“Why wouldn’t you dream anymore?” he asked.
“Because on that day I would have what I need,” the BabyGirl answered confidently. “It’s impossible to need the things you all ready have. You don’t need them. You have them. And therefore, you no longer dream of them.”
“Can you tell what she’s looking at in the distance?” her Daddy asked.
“No,” she replied. “It’s an image that isn’t yet in focus, but I can tell that it’s what I need.”
“It sounds to me like you’re not done dreaming yet,” her Daddy stated.
“No, Daddy. I’m not done dreaming yet,” the BabyGirl replied. “But it’s getting so close now, I can almost see it.”
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“How To Dance With The Roses”
The BabyGirl walked along the pathway with her Daddy through the Field of Gold. She had learned so much about herself on this walk and so much about life. She was eager to see what lie in her future. But she stopped when she saw the next field in front of her. It was covered with roses.
“Why are there roses, Daddy?” she asked sweetly.
“Because it’s time for you to show what you’ve learned,” her Daddy replied.
“Show? Show what? And how?” she asked, lowering her chin in shyness.
“Princess, in these Fields of Gold, you’ve found your Rhythm , your GPS, how to follow your own Lead, how to have All the Right Moves, and how to be Mighty Like …?”
“… Like a Rose,” she said, completing his thought as she looked at the blanket of roses in the high grass. “What do I do, though?”
“Walk out into those roses and you’ll know what to do,” her Daddy said, watching her step out of her sandals and take her first two steps into the roses.
Then she stopped, thought about it, and began to twirl. She ran into the center of the fields and spun around with her arms out, like she had seen in ‘The Sound of Music’, and though she had a little trouble moving quite like she wanted, the diaper around her waist didn’t stop her from learning how to sway with the breeze and How To Dance With The Roses.
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“How to Hear the Whispers of a Little Heart”
“Daddy?” she asked with a small voice. “Do you ever get to the point where you tire of thinking about things?”
“Yes, BabyGirl,” her Daddy responded. “It can lead to a state of mind where you can’t do anything. You wind up standing still and living inside your head.”
“So what do you do when you get tired of thinking too much?” she asked, walking up to the edge of the Field of Gold.
“I stop thinking and I start to listen,” he replied. “And what I find sometimes is that if I can quiet my mind long enough, I’ll hear the whispers of my heart. And it will be those whispers that tell me all I need to know.”
She took a step forward, listening to the whispers of her heart. And she discovered that some questions were designed to have no answers, some destinations were never meant to be reached, some days would always be better than others, and that simplicity would always enable her to hear to the whispers of a little heart.
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“How to Race at the Beat of Your Heart”
She dashed into the fields of grass and darted up the hillside with a purpose to get to the summit ahead.
Following her heart, she boldly embraced the belief that what she was looking for in life had been shown to her in the dreams she kept.
Being certain was the result of a long time that she struggled to understand why she hadn’t found her ultimate happiness in life.
At the summit, she ran into the arms of the Daddy she had always dreamed would be there.
And when he asked her how she knew how to find him, her reply came straight from the center of her little heart:
“All my life, the happiness that I sought was always right in front of me. Not until now, did I ever realize that all I had to do was race to you at the beat of my heart.”
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“How to See the Rainbow Before the RainStorm”
The BabyGirl always used to get saddened by a coming rainstorm and frightened when she knew it would include thunder.
But it was the day her Daddy told her that a forthcoming storm would yield rewards when it left that she saw the dark clouds forming above as a good thing.
“Princess, rain replenishes the land with water. Thunder breaks the skies free of electricity. But it all seems like bad things are on the way,” her Daddy once said. “But just before the storm starts, the blowing winds carry the birds to safety, the leaves turn upside down to catch the raindrops and the world prepares itself for the benefits of the struggles ahead.”
“But none of that makes it any less scary to deal with, Daddy,” the BabyGirl replied.
“That’s because sometimes we spend too much time thinking about the bad things of the moment as opposed to the rewards which will follow,” her Daddy said. “Much like in life, our trials are always short-lived, but the results of our tribulations will last us a lifetime. So the next time you see those dark clouds forming, think of what will remain once they are gone. And soon you’ll be able to see the rainbow before the rainstorm.”
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“How to Speak Volumes with Irises”
“Daddy, why can’t I find the words to say what’s in my heart?” the BabyGirl asked, taking a seat sadly in the Field of Gold.
“What do you mean, Princess?” her Daddy asked in return.
“I know how I feel, but sometimes I can’t find the words,” she replied.
“Maybe you don’t need to find the words,” he suggested.
“Then how will people know what I’m thinking?” she asked.
“Sometimes it’s best that they don’t know,” her Daddy answered. “But if you can’t find the words, then find the thought. Close your eyes, think of it in your mind and then open your eyes. The message will be clear to all.”
“People will see it in my eyes?” she asked.
“Oh yes,” he assured her. “And when you take the time to understand the wishes of your heart, you’ll speak volumes with irises.”
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“How to See with Blindness”
“BabyGirl, do you remember the day we met?” her Daddy asked softly.
Smiling, she recalled it fondly.
“Yes, Daddy. What I can’t remember is each day before that one,” the BabyGirl replied.
“When I first saw you, there was a glow you had to you,” her Daddy said. “And I could tell that it was a glow not only on your outside, but on your inside. Do you know what that told me?”
“That I could outshine the sun?” she asked, repeating some of the sentiments he had said to her in the past. “That I was renewed by my own love? That I was mighty like a rose? That I could find my own GPS inside me?”
“No. Those are things I learned about you along the way,” her Daddy replied. “When I saw you glowing, inside and out, that told me you were someone I needed to get to know.”
“Daddy?” she asked timidly.
“Yes, BabyGirl?” he asked back.
“Thank you for taking the time to see what I couldn’t see about myself and how to use your heart to look through someone’s flaws,” she replied. “Thank you for showing me how to see with blindness.”
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“How to Hit the Clouds Running”
“Daddy, is it true that every cloud has a silver lining?” the BabyGirl asked, looking up at the white puffs in the sky.
“So they say,” her daddy replied, looking up to the clouds as well. “But I bet no one has ever really checked. They may have gold linings.”
“I wish I could check for you,” she responded.
“You wanna try?” he asked.
“How?” she asked. “I’d have to be running really fast to even jump to touch them.”
“I think you can reach them, BabyGirl,” her daddy said. “Just focus in on the journey of your heart. Race up that hill and remember that each chapter has a needed end.”
“I don’t get it,” she replied, perplexed. “How does that help me reach the clouds?”
“You simply remember the momentum you gain along the way,” he answered. “Remember how wonderful it felt to give someone everything you had. Then remember how humbling it felt to know that ‘everything you had’ still wasn’t enough to meet the needs of those in your past. And finally, remember how reassuring it felt to know that you would love that deeply again. Take all these thoughts and put them together. And you’ll find your own way to hit the clouds running.“
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“How to Lose Sight of the Limit”
She closed her eyes, looking up to the sky. It was the morning of her wedding and she took the remainder of her single life to reflect on the journey she had made to arrive at this very day.
She made each decision count, each emotion have balance, each question find its answer and each day mean something.
And on this glorious beautiful morning, she felt a confidence she had sought her entire life. She would soon be married to the Daddy she was born to meet, to follow and to love for a lifetime, for the long haul.
And looking to the sky, she decided how far she was willing to reach to achieve more happiness. She smiled brightly, realizing that for the first time in her life, she couldn’t see the limit she believed herself capable of reaching. It was too far away to be seen.
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“How to Get Him to Follow You”
Their wedding was beautiful as was she. Dolled up to the nines, she felt more like a Princess than a BabyGirl, but no matter what he called and how he saw her, his heart belonged to her now.
Her Daddy was handsome, dashing even in his tuxedo. And as the reception wound down, their first night of marriage began. This was the moment she had been waiting for her whole life. And she refused to allow a second of it to be wasted.
Kicking off her heels and letting her hair down, she tossed the bouquet and ran into the Fields of Gold where she had spent so much time in life learning who she was and who she was meant to be.
At long last, she had infact learned who she was and with her feminine wiles sending signals to her Daddy and now Husband, he could see she knew where she wanted to go, where she was going and how to get there … And that is why he followed her.
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“How to Begin at the End”
After the reception, the BabyGirl walked into the Fields of Gold with her Daddy as the sun set at the end of their wedding day.
“And now what do we do, Daddy?” the blushing BabyGirl bride asked.
“We go back to the beginning,” her Daddy replied.
“What do you mean?” she asked, perplexed at his answer.
“When we first met, we began a journey together. And in our minds, we saw where we wanted to wind up. We saw the destination and it was beautiful, but we knew the journey ahead of us would teach us all we would need to know about our life together,” her Daddy answered. “So, at the beginning, we saw the end. And now that we’re here, we can begin again, with new horizons to guide us and new journeys ahead.”
He took her hand and they watched the fleeting golden rays of the sun.
“Tomorrow is the beginning of the rest of our lives,” her Daddy whispered to her. “And just like before, we’re going to see where we want to wind up when the new journey is finished. This time around, we’re going to begin at the end.”
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