Being the daughter of a painter,
I've learned something about light.
It's everywhere,
Ever-changing,
But you have to look for it,
And acknowledge it,
And see it as something alive.
Golden light of this early summer morning shimmers on leaves outside my window.
A light breeze moves through the leaves and reveals dark,
Rich,
Deeper green beneath.
A moment later,
The light will almost imperceptibly change this vision.
The voice of the artist within me says,
Look with your heart.
Light is everywhere,
If you seek it.
And darkness,
Too.
Which do you choose to color your world with today?
And so I turn away from the TV news with stories so terrible and true.
I offer solace when I can.
I listen when it helps us to share our fear and loss.
But I seek light.
I turn to the inner voice that's always there,
Keeping communion through meditation,
Finding a balance that only exists for me by staying attuned to the choice for light.
One day at a time.
One hour at a time.
One moment at a time.
Because my thoughts of dark and light can be as changeable as the morning light on the leaves.
And I choose,
Not perfectly.
Not every day.
But with compassionate understanding that we are human,
Knowing there will be dark days,
Too.
But intention for good and love of light wins out.
Because deep inside there is something that supports this intention,
Assisting me again and again.
Pain and loss are real.
And so is light.
It's right outside my window as I speak these words,
Shining on leaves with their darker green underneath in shady places.
I hear the words of an artist I knew as a child.
A friend of my mother's,
Actually.
He was trying to teach me to paint.
Learn to see differently,
He said.
The contrasts are everywhere.
The light and shadow.
And choose your own vision.
This will be what you create.
I was only eight then.
I didn't quite understand what he was saying.
But I am in my seventies now,
And I think I do.
Light is everywhere,
If you look for it.
Even in darkness,
There is light.
