Every year during the first two weeks of November, I try my best to work my schedule around the weather forecast to make sure I find time to spend in nature on the days the sun is shining. There is this magical window between 3 and 4:30 pm when everything turns gold. This year while I was bicycling through Central Park at that hour and basking in this gorgeous light, it felt like the universe was casting a loving gaze on me and the rest of the world. Out of the blue, the Jackie Wilson song, “Higher and Higher” popped into my head. Usually when this happens, I receive it as a message from spirit. As I reflected on the lyrics, “Your love keeps lifting me higher than I’ve ever been lifted before,” it was a reminder that when we tap into the eternal love that shines within us, everything flows with ease and our spirits can be lifted in an instant.
Later that week, as I was running some errands, I found
myself smiling at everyone I saw on the street as I passed by. I realized though, that no one could see my smile
underneath my mask! I wondered how many
people would “feel” the energy of my smile instead. In the practice of Reiki, we don’t just transmit
the flow of energy through our hands, but also through our eyes. I decided in that moment to continue smiling
at everyone I passed, and to also consciously transmit this universal love
energy through my eyes. It didn’t matter
to me if we made eye contact, or they even knew I was smiling at them. I was simply committing to gaze on the world
with love, just like the sun, without needing anything in return.
On Halloween this year, I created an altar to my ancestors and placed pictures of my grandparents and other loved ones who are now on the other side. When I took a picture of the altar, an orb of light appeared right over a photo of my Papa Bromage reading to me as a baby. This tiny round light centered itself right over my heart. It reminded me of E.T’s heartlight.
Remembering our true light and the essence of love that
exists within us is probably the greatest gift we can give ourselves and the
world this holiday season. It’s what
makes life a mystical, magical journey, especially in times when we might not
know what’s next. It’s a reminder that when
we believe in a loving universe, it responds with love in return.
