In times of darkness, the light within you can feel muted, or perhaps even hidden. Now is the time to go within, rekindle your spirit, and share it with others!
I don't know about you, but some years winter can get me down - and this year is no exception. Thus far my 2018 has been fraught with cold, damp weather, far more illness than I'd like, and emergency room visits and hospital stays with family. I long to be rid of my permanent tether to my Kleenex box, and that feeling of fatigue and malaise that plagues me when I'm unable to work, play, eat or exercise as much as I'd like. Compound that with a sense that our society is losing its moral and ethical compass (read what you will there), and you have a prescription for the blahs.
I continuously remind myself that this is a first world problem, and that I am fortunate enough to be alive, reasonably healthy, and doing what I love! Even so, it helps to draw inspiration from the beautiful writings and musings of others who have walked this path before me.
I often turn to the work of Clarissa Pinkola Estés, the divinely inspired and gifted author best known for her book, "Women Who Run With The Wolves".
Here is one of my favorite quotes that reminds me that light exists even when I cannot see it, and that we are all interconnected on this journey, and can illuminate each other's paths. I hope that it inspires you!
One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do
to intervene in a stormy world
is to stand up and show your soul.
Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times.
The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares,
builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire.
To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these,
to be fierce and to show mercy toward others;
both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.
Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.
- Excerpt from "You Were Made for This" by Clarissa Pinkola Estés