Noticing Grace...
Help me remember fireflies. There’s magic that happens when walking in a dark wood, lost in thought and then suddenly a firefly appears. Light! And the thread of thought is lifted to a better place.
It can be uncomfortable for me to let go of thoughts and worries. Turning them over and over in my mind. And it’s essential. To take a break, a pause, a breath, to let in wonder, hope, delight.
My understanding is increasing that we are continuously being offered opportunities to reframe the frames we have put on the world. I call it noticing grace.
It’s quite liberating to visit a framing store. Or to use guides on a photograph to zoom in, zoom out. Cropping can be a useful tool. So can turning a camera in a different direction.
When my mind is focused on framing and reframing my worries, then my mind becomes an art museum full of paintings I’m standing in front of and truly don’t want to keep seeing. And why do I stand there? I can create an entire gallery of different angles, views and images of the same worry.
(Proofreading, saw I’d misspelled “angles,” and had written, “I can create an entire gallery of different angels!” Moving “e” created the word angels. Proof!)
I love to go to art museums and see special exhibits. I get there early. I’ve studied the map. My ticket is scanned. I go. I run through open hallways and galleries to be in wonder with as few people as possible.
I cherish these moments and memories. With O’Keeffe. Monet. Van Gough. Cezanne.
Being honest with you, why in my own mind, do I keep returning to terrible worries that have not happened and tragic moments I cannot change? And I stand there bereft.
When I’m in an art museum, I am conscious of my time there. I know it’s limited. I’ve paid for my ticket. I’ve traveled far. And there’s a brief window when I’m not hungry, don’t have to pee, don’t need to be anywhere else and I am able to savor beauty.
In an art museum, when I walk into a room full of paintings that don’t inspire me, I walk out. Quickly. I’m living on purpose. I am looking for light, beauty, something that takes my breath away.
When I see it…
I stop. Smile. My heart fills up. I let myself be lifted.
Like seeing a firefly. And suddenly I am changed. I am full of delight.
My ask of myself is to linger longer in the beauty of my life. Because it is beautiful. To be in wonder at life itself.
And when I forget this ask, I am grateful that daily variations of fireflies remind me to look. To shift. To see and be delighted. To notice grace.
May I stop and see.
And may I trust that taking time to notice grace is worth my time because grace lessens the worries and heals the deepest of wounds.
Today I am sharing with you a new character who arrived. Her name is Liva. She is a friend and a firefly. I think she’s been with me for a long time. And this is her song.
May Peace be with you.
~Kathleen
To listen to “May My Love Come Through” on YouTube, please click here.
To listen to “May My Love Come Through” on YouTube, please click here.