🌟This Little Light of Mine🕯

I found this image today on the cover of a journal at the book store at Spirit Rock.

By the time you read this, you will know more than I do right now.

Yes, I am referring to the election but no, this is not a political post.

I am writing this on the Dark of the Moon (the night before the New Moon --which as you probably know is considered to be the best time for new beginnings).

Darkness and mystery are under-appreciated in our culture. We demand light and definitive answers. And we want that now. 

On Halloween this year, I dressed all in black as "The Mystery". I introduced myself to people in a portentous voice:  "I am the Mystery. You may ask me anything you want to know."  I listened carefully while people posed their questions. And then I responded by saying "Yes, I do indeed know know the answer to your question". {pause} 

"But I'm not going to tell you, because {pause} I am The Mystery". 

And then I would open my arms and say "Embrace the Mystery". I got lots of hugs.

I thoroughly enjoyed being The Mystery. Especially since it helped me playfully embrace all of the uncertainty and mysteries that I am experiencing in my life and as I survey the world right now. 

I was wearing a string of crystal balls (combined from both of my Grandmothers gifts to me) which I also consulted.

We may not always enjoy mystery, darkness or chaos* but it is out of these states that creativity and new possibilities arise.

Consider the Big Bang theory of the creation of our world --or for that matter creation stories from around the world.

The known feels reassuringly safe, secure and comfortable. But that is an illusion. We are not living in safe, secure and comfortable times. Old paradigms and institutions and ways of life are crumbling all around us. And our planet (or at least the creatures --like us who live on it) is in serious peril.

Difficult challenges, rough transitions and nasty surprises are unpleasant. No one wants them. Not even people like me who have experienced miraculous benefits as a result of them! 

But rather than despair and give up, or fight/flight/flee/fix (which includes both desperately trying to fix that which might be fortuitously broken or getting addictive fixes to numb the pain of those sharp broken edges) we need to awaken our creativity and get really curious about what else is possible. 

 Once our eyes adjust to the darkness of a black night, we begin to see the infinite stars of the mysterious beautiful universe. 

Those stars represent so many bright possibilities that we might never have seen before.

The Darkest Nights Produce The Brightest Stars

"The stars are always there, just that they are not visible to us in the bright sunlight. In-fact, we would never know of their existence if it wasn’t for the night. And the darker the night, the more it brings forth the brightness of the stars."

Furthermore, the stars represent each of us.

“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of star stuff”.

– Carl Sagan

We are ALL made of stars and all literally a part of each other. 

However this election turned out, whether in your mind darkness or light triumphed, (or some murky twilight in between, where some "bad guys/gals" won and some "good guys/gals" won but no one is happy), we can appreciate our own light and look for it in others. AND appreciate the gifts of the darkness/ mystery and chaos that reside within ALL of us.

You can't see my red leggings, but I dressed in red white and blue. After voting, I took my little nanny charges to a polling place to fill out practice ballots. Then we went to hang out with the giant redwoods to get their perspective.

This New Moon is also Diwali, an Indian festival of lights that symbolizes the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance." Many candles and bright lights shine beautifully in the darkness on this holy day.

So many of our stories involve this theme. From ancient myths to popular culture, we want that victory.

But what if we look at some of the deeper meanings of those old stories and/or create new ones. 

Rather than focus on the ways in which I fight the darkness, solve the mysteries and conquer chaos, I am trying something different.

I am focusing on the gifts to be found in the dark and celebrating both the darkness AND bright sparkly light.

I would gratefully welcome answers to the big questions in my life, but I'm paying more attention right now to living into the questions.

Chaos is definitely challenging for me at this juncture of my life, but I am remembering all of the stories in which Chaos (represented by characters like Eris and Maleficent) wreaked havoc upon those who did not invite her. So I am doing my best to welcome her. She's going to show up anyway!

So on this New Moon/Diwali/ Post election, I plan to explore how I can best let my little light shine and to shine the light of love on all in my world --as best I can.

I invite you to try this as well. Can you imagine what our world would look like if we all did this?

A Diwali festival

*Last year for Halloween I went as the Queen of Chaos in a wildly colorful costume and the  previous year I was the Queen of Death -- carrying a small Glass cauldron filled with pomegranate seeds which I offered to people, asking if they would like some seeds from the underworld, and asking what in their life they were ready to let die. Unless that was the year I went as a sparkly pink fairy granting people's fondest wishes, I don't remember.🧚‍♀️

And just in case you noticed and you're curious, it is a complete mystery to me as to why the font shifted. It had something to do with the captions under the images, but nothing I do will fix it. I am finally surrendering. If that's the only price demanded by Chaos today, I'm okay with that!