Welcome to the core within.
Dearest heart,
Can you be here with me in the now?
Take a moment to settle into the space you find yourself,
Into the body that you are in.
Let yourself soften and your breath find a natural steady rhythm.
Allow the weight of the world to ease off of your shoulders,
Even if just for this short time.
Close your eyes if you would like and focus on the feeling of the gentle flow of air entering and leaving your body.
Let it ground you into the present.
Be here with me.
There was a time,
Not long ago,
When everyone needed to build fires for warmth and for light.
Many of us have forgotten how to build and feed a fire.
Perhaps you've never made your own,
Perhaps you do every day,
But this practice can teach us a lot about our inner flame,
Our inner warmth,
Our inner light.
To build a fire,
Kindling is useful.
It is small but mighty.
It helps sparks catch,
Warmth spread,
And eventually helps light all of the bigger wood pieces on the pile.
It is not to be underestimated in its significance.
Humble,
Valuable,
And needed.
Perhaps you have heard the soothing crackle of a real fire,
Watched the flames dance,
Felt the caress of warmth across your cheek.
How deliciously simple this pleasure that many of us have forgotten.
What is the kindling of your inner fire?
What,
My dear one,
Helps spark warmth within you?
What ignites your inner light and feeds your compassion?
Are you building it?
Are you tending to it,
Feeding it,
This inner light of yours?
Any fire needs oxygen.
So,
Breathe,
Darius,
Breathe.
Breathe soft and deep,
Like you are giving air to the fire in your belly.
Let the oxygen stoke your light,
And know that this needs to be given regularly to keep the fire going.
And your heart warm.
Oxygen,
Fuel,
And heat.
These are the ingredients.
This is the triangle.
What a fire needs to burn.
If you want to keep your inner light burning,
You need to take the time to breathe,
To feed yourself fuel.
This could be in small acts of kindness to yourself,
Doing things that feel joyous,
However tiny.
These moments that you remind yourself that your smile ripples out to the world,
Your joy,
A prayer,
Your warmth,
A song.
When you feed yourself compassion,
Gentleness,
Care,
Kindness,
This is what spills out of you.
Your light.
Your light becomes a light for others.
Your heat becomes warmth for those in the cold.
How can I give light when I am in the dark?
I hear you ask.
Light yourself from an offered wick,
Just as you will extend out yours when you feel it.
Others are right there holding out the spark of inspiration to you.
And turn inwards.
See the flicker,
However small.
That flicker is always there,
No matter how buried by the worries of the world.
Find it.
Breathe into it.
Give it oxygen.
Feed it the kindling of kindness,
The fuel of time,
And heat.
Heat,
My dear one.
The spark.
The promises that you keep to yourself.
The sweet warmth that bursts through you when you hold yourself to your word,
Gently,
But with strength,
Commitment,
And courage.
I will show up and breathe today.
My fire needs me.
I have got me.
I deserve my own kindness and my own time.
Fuel,
Oxygen,
Heat.
To light a fire.
To be in a fire's light.
To remember your light and radiate it out.
To kindle.
To ignite.
To stoke.
To feed.
To share.
To love.
To shine.
Kindling your own light means tending to it gratefully,
Lovingly,
And letting it love you back.
Breathe into yourself now.
Let the light within you grow vibrant and warm.
Can you feel it,
Sweet one?
The elements within you that were forged in the explosion of a star?
That spark,
That heat has always been there.
It is within you,
Always radiating and wanting to help you.
Even embers within your soul are hot enough to ignite again.
There is passion within you.
A brightness.
A longing.
To live.
To dance.
To spread joy.
A longing to feel.
To let yourself shine.
As you breathe,
Let your inner light expand.
Like the break of day,
From your torso let the warmth radiate down your limbs.
Let it burst out of your fingertips.
Let it ground out of your feet.
You are worthy of your own light,
And others need it too.
Just as the stars shine as glittering beacons,
Urging us to remember that we were created by this beautiful world,
So too do you shine with just as much right and as much beauty.
The more you take the time to turn inward,
To kindle,
To feed,
To enjoy the warmth and vibrancy you have at the core of your very being,
The more you will reflect this back into the world.
This will happen naturally,
Brightening and warming those parts that are just a little dark and cold.
You are glowing.
You are illuminated by your warmth.
You are nourished and safe.
Allow yourself to feel the light emanating from inside you,
Through your skin,
Through the soft twinkle in your eyes,
The gentle smile you share with others today,
Through your heart and through your actions,
Your words and your attentiveness.
You are a star,
A flame,
A flicker of hope,
A gift,
And you deserve to shine.
