light and love

The expression or idea of sending light and love to others is one of the more beautiful concepts I've discovered lately.  It so accurately expresses what I want to do with my life, and how I believe the world could be improved if we all made this a daily, hourly, moment-by-moment practice.

I'm not sure where I first heard this expression, but I noticed it again last night when I was watching "Eat Pray Love."  Did it come from the book?  I imagine it started before that.  I imagine it's an ancient practice.  I mention this expression as a means to beginning this new adventure in writing.

I was inspired by my dear friend and LP, Kendra, who has started writing the most luscious of blogs.  Her writing makes me giggle, it makes me think, it makes me feel like I'm sitting right next to her hearing the stories of her travels and life.  She is a new travel writer, and once I get permission, I will share her blog with you, as well. In the meantime, she's keeping it on the DL, and I might do the same with this.  I just returned from traveling in Costa Rica with her; a most relaxing and creativity-inspiring vacation.  Something about pure, hot hot hot sunshine, mixed with sand and sweat, in the middle of February must inspire something in my Arctic blood.  Perhaps it's just my needed dose of vitamin D?

In any case, one evening we sat drinking wine in our little hotel, and discussed why it's important to write, to sing, to dance, and to create.  I admit that I've been a victim of a more jaded, cynical position lately.  (I use the word "victim" intentionally.)  Somehow I had reached a spot in my mind where I wasn't sure that my voice, my writing, my perspective was worth writing about.  Yes, I wrote in my journal, for myself, but I wasn't sure about writing for others.  I'm okay with the vulnerability actually; of letting people into my thoughts; of opening myself up to criticism.  It was just some misguided idea I'd developed that it didn't matter whether I wrote.  I find this ironic, as I regularly consider how important VOICE is to people...particularly those that do not have a voice.  So, all of this to say, that as we discussed with our vino tinto why people should write music or blogs or create artwork, I was reminded that even if it has been done before, it has never been written in MY voice...or created in my way.  Thank you, Kendra.  That's what friends are for, right?  To support us and love us and guide us when we've gone astray.

In addition to this, I've been feeling a little uninspired creatively lately.  Again, this could simply be attributed to the darkness and snow outside my window, but I come from Viking blood and you'd think this would not be a deterrent for people like me.  I asked Kendra if she minded my starting a little blog of my own.  I created this blog in 2007, at a time in my life in which I was feeling particularly energized and inspired.  I wrote three entries (all of which I just deleted), and then became too busy to write more.  I remembered this in Costa Rica.

This is a little space for me to write, to seek inspiration and share it with others, to find stories about what's going right in the world and share them, to hopefully bring a little more joy into our universe.  Don't get me wrong.  Being aware and alive, and coming from a position of relative privilege in this world, I also feel a responsibility to shine a light on spaces where we need to work together to find solutions.  All is not right in this world, and while I am a forever-optimist and dreamer, I know that we need to work on finding solutions to the hate, the violence, the injustices, and the mistreatment of our brothers and sisters and planet.  This is one of the ways that I hope to contribute to a culture of peace in my community, the state of Alaska, the country of the United States, and the world.

So.  Thank you to Kendra for inspiring me, and giving me the courage and energy to write.  Thank you to Costa Rican sunshine for replenishing me.  Thank you to my sweet doggies who are sitting next to me patiently, waiting for a walk.  Thank you to you for reading, if I ever decide to share this.

I hope this brings love and light to you...and I hope that radiates out and you share it with others.  I wholeheartedly believe that simply smiling with kindness each day, brings light and love to the world.  Smile at your family, smile at your colleagues, smile at the cashier at the grocery store, smile at the trees, smile at the rays of sunshine or the clouds, and you can change the world.