So, a funny thing happened on the way to my newsletter this month. It totally disappeared. Twice. And if you think this excuse is akin to “the dog ate my homework”, you are mistaken! I admit, my technological skills are quite basic. I see it clearly in my documents but there is no accessing it. Go figure. So this is version #3.
My first reaction of course is “what did I do wrong?”. That’s right…..blame it on myself. Why not? I mean “I am not worthy” was my mantra for so many years of my life. Why on earth have I wasted so many years and opportunities wallowing in this self deprecation?
Maybe you don’t relate to this sort of reaction and were raised to love your self. My dear Grandmother, who lived with us, was quick to say “Don’t get above yourself” meaning don’t think too much of yourself. That was drilled into us so much that none of us kids came out of childhood thinking we could do much in the world. Or that we were even allowed to speak in the world.
I have a very vivid memory of one particular evening when I was around 8. My sister and I shared a room, and a double bed, and we loved to read. I was reading my first book on mythology about the time that identity souvenirs were all the rage. You know, keychains, notepads, doo-dads with your name on them. There was never a Diantha among them of course. So I usually settled for Diana. Imagine my thrill of discovery to see there in this book the name “Diana”, the Roman goddess of the hunt! I was so excited that the name was there that I was jumping on the bed exclaiming “I am a goddess! I am a goddess!”. My Grandmother, who in actuality was a delightful and wonderful being, albeit very religious, grabbed my arm and pulled me unceremoniously off that bed saying that I was being very sacrilegious, and disrespectful of God. Oh boy, that stifled completely any feeling of pride or identity that I had for myself as I was also quite religious and at the time yearned to be a nun, although I was not Catholic. I had plans to convert when I was old enough and live my life in a convent. Preferably as a cloistered nun.
Mercy. Anyway, at that point in my life I realized I was a nothing. So I clammed up and lived my life as a no-thing for a long time. Eventually my spirit took over and overcompensated but that is another story. Suffice it to say, I came out of my self-imposed cocoon and began to live life with enthusiasm.
Which all brings me to what I want to say to you in this month of love: love yourself unconditionally. There are so many affirmations around this concept and yet not loving ourselves creates so many problems for us. Many of the homeless we work with suffer from a bruised sense of self. Many of the clients I work with as well. But many have also climbed out of that darkness and are thriving in the light of their own beings.
There is an admonition in the Book of Matthew instructing us to not hide our “light” (our true selves, our talents, our gifts) under a bushel. The poet John Chuchman makes that the main focus in his poetry. And I tell you from my own experience, let your light shine. Without your light, the world is a darker place and at this time in evolution we NEED all lights to shine brightly.
So this month, make it your focus to light up your lights and shine them as brightly as you can. You are loved. You are lovable. You are needed. You, my friend, ARE the LIGHT!
| Check out this beautiful song |
“Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world. Don’t let anything stand in the way of the light that shines through this form. Risk being seen in all of your glory.”
Jim Carrey
“I encourage you to remember that you are, indeed, as the stars. You glow with the same intensity. The answers that you seek outside of yourself may very well be found within the cosmic intelligence inside you. Go ahead; show the world what you are made of! Sparkle, shine, light the way, and brightly blaze as you are meant to do.”
Mishi McCoy
The colors of love could be any color depending on how you use them but we mostly think of red, green, pink and magenta as the colors for Valentine’s Day. I recommend PINK for unifying group energies and to create an atmosphere of unconditional love in a space. RED for passionate love. GREEN for infusing heart energy into an environment. MAGENTA is love of beauty and can be used to infuse “love from above”. It is also excellent to use if you grew up lacking enough Mother love. http://www.lifepotentials.net/shop/
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. “
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Happy Valentine’s Day. Until next month…..
Namaste….xo