Let There Be Light!

Have you ever considered, I mean really considered, the idea that the universe is a benevolent place filled with beauty and wonder? Think about it. We live in a world where people are filled with (but admittedly don’t always use) an enormous capacity to love. It is a world with sunsets, poetry, peacocks, laughter, music. It has its less pretty moments too, but often that is because people choose to create ugliness rather than embrace beauty. It is so easy to get bogged in the little things that go wrong and “ruin” a day, but how often do we stop to think about all that has gone right?

Rob Breszny posits this beautifully in “Glory in the Highest”, a love letter to the beneficent nature of the universe from his book Pronoia. Every breath we take, every beat of our heart, every feeling we feel, every bite we taste of life is but one of a million small miracles that happen every day. But how often do we stop to appreciate or even acknowledge them?

The truth is that I don’t. I get stressed, wrapped up in my work, completely selfish and blind to the wonder around me. I get crabby. I complain. I succumb to my vast reserves of angst. I let my mind stand in the way of my self having fun. I am so busy thinking of reasons to say "no" that I forget to say "YES!". But I am tired of being tired. And I am tired of cynicism and skepticism. I am tired of ruts. I am tired of negativity. And I am ready for the dawn.

I know there is darkness out there, but every ray of light we put out leaves a little less shadow. So, I am trying something new. I am raising the blinds and making a conscious choice to let in the light and illuminate the dark that creeps into my spirit. It is this darkness that makes me sometimes forget to enjoy life and do my small part of make the world a more beautiful place than it was before I entered it. This is not about grand, sweeping gestures, but an intentional shift toward actions and attitudes that embrace positivity and kindness. And that is what living should be about – gratefully savoring and intentionally seeking out the sweet scents, the spine tingling sounds, the bright spectrum of peacock colors that make life wonderful.