In this moment,
Turn in,
Taking a deep inhale.
Feel the fresh air filling your body.
Exhale.
Feel your body relaxing,
Softening.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
You might be familiar with the phrase,
I know it when I see it.
What you might not know is that the phrase originated in a court case about obscenity and pornography.
The justice in that case was naming something we've all experienced.
There are things we can't put words to,
But we still know them somehow.
Inhale.
Exhale.
This reminds me of another phrase,
The quality which has no name.
It's a phrase in Christopher Alexander's book,
The Timeless Way of Building.
And he argues that there is this quality that we can see in a human being,
A building,
A wilderness,
And it is compelling.
It draws us in.
It makes us feel alive and welcome.
The quality is objective,
But it cannot be named.
We know it when we see it.
Inhale.
Exhale.
The closest word I can come up with to name this quality is glow,
A brightness or warmth indicating youth,
Health,
And incandescence.
Light without flame,
A gentle fire.
Glow is to be clad in radiance.
It is to shine,
To live light.
Inhale.
Exhale.
We might know it when we see it,
But so many of us have no idea how to get it.
Many of us might be struggling right now to get our glow on.
Enter advertising.
The whole purpose of advertising is to convince us that if we buy this,
Wear that,
Drink this,
Drive that,
Then we will achieve that quality which has no name.
We will radiate health and wealth and unending joy.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not,
I bet we all know in the deepest parts of our being that buying something is not going to bring us that quality we so desperately seek.
What will then?
Inhale deeply.
Exhale and let go.
Your breath is one such thing that will get us closer to that quality because breath is prana life force.
Your breath brings you life,
Energy.
Think of a struggling fire.
What do we do with it?
We bring a gentle and steady breath to it and when we do,
The fire often begins to grow and grow.
So inhale like you mean it and exhale.
Once you've focused on a deep and even breath,
You might get curious about your life.
Consider being a scientist.
Run experiments.
If I do this,
Do I feel more or less alive?
If I eat this,
Do I feel light or burdened?
If I watch this,
Scroll through this,
Read this,
What happens to my insides?
Consider thinking about your actions as echoes.
What comes back to you and how does that make you feel?
Inhale.
Exhale.
From there,
You can get intentional.
Find a practice,
A ritual that sustains and nourishes the glow inside of you.
Invite the good into your life however you imagine that happening.
Be a creator of the positive.
Bring more attention and energy to that which unveils your light.
Inhale.
Exhale.
The world will try to convince you otherwise,
But this quality with no name can only come from the inside and only then will it be able to manifest on the outside.
Settle.
Quiet.
Surrender.
And unveil the sweet and quiet shining that is always there.
Live light.
