What will you do with all this light?

Today is the Spring Equinox – the time when the sun is aligned with the earth’s equator making the day and night equal in duration…….

It is a time of balance and awakening!

 

We see this in the light in the morning sky, the extended length of each day, the increase in activity of the creatures all around us and in the burgeoning stems of crocus and daffodils and the buds popping out on the trees.

We may also feel it in our own sense of energy and desire to grow and expand. Perhaps you feel inspired to get more active again, to exercise, take a class, get out and meet people…. We can see it as a reminder to come into balance within ourselves.

But at the same time you may also still have a sense of darkness. This can show up in many areas of life but the one that is most present in my awareness is in the ongoing turmoil of our country’s political climate. If you are paying attention at all you know that there are so many people who are angry, confused, sad and there is a feeling of deep divide.

Do you, like me, feel the urge to be more active?Have you been taking action but each thing you do feels so small and inconsequential? Or are you doing all you can but the number of issues and sheer vastness of what needs to happen are overwhelming? Do you feel out of balance?

Remember, everything you do to enhance the light helps it to flourish. And you need to focus as much or more on the light in you as around you. In this way, you can be the light of awareness and change.

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.

Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.

                                         Rumi

 

I love this quote by Rumi. It reminds me of balance and the truth that unless I am focusing on my own growth, well-being and transforming myself, I have very little power anywhere else.

I don’t believe that absolves me of any responsibility for external action but rather that I need to ensure that my actions help support the light – my own and how I bring it into the world. Spring is an amazing time to really feel into that and to help me, and you, to determine how to spend energy, how to bolster enthusiasm and how to be the brightest lights in the world we can be.

Being aware not just of what the actions are but also how you are taking them, the kind of thoughts you are spending time with, the people whom you choose to act with is all important. These impact greatly the difference in whether you get overwhelmed and burned out or feel vital and positive in the difference you can make. Doing things that help keep your mind and heart light and spacious will support you in seeing through all the specifics can that bog you down and into the end goal which is life, connection and love.
Isn’t it?

When I remember that, the specific actions take less importance and the way I feel gets more attention. I ask myself, “What is the one thing I can do right now that will make me feel good about creating the world I want to live in?” “What can I do right now that will bring people together?” “How can I be a light to help someone to see a way to connection and away from divisiveness?”

The answers are varied. Sometimes it is calling my representative, who does not see things the way I do, and telling him a bit about how I see the world. Sometimes its in active, non-violent, life affirming protest. Sometimes it is reaching out to people who agree with me and getting validated. Other times it is reaching out to connect with someone who has different politics than me but also shares a lot in common. And always it is from a place in my heart that sincerely wants the best for everyone and is willing to accept that I may not actually know what that “best” is.

More Rumi:

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,

the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”
doesn’t make any sense. 

                                  Rumi

 

As the days continue to lengthen and the light seems more enduring, take time too to go lay in the field…hike in nature, gaze at the sky, enjoy flowing water, move your body, refresh your mind! Let, as Mary Oliver says, “the soft animal of your body love what it loves”. And take consistent, positive action to align yourself and help to transform this world into the one you want to live in!

Leave me a comment below to share your thoughts!