Lightly child, lightly.

~ Live & Learn

hands-light

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.

One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these – to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.

~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes, You Were Made For This (Awakin.org, Jan 28, 2008)

 

Notes:

  • Photo: via Hidden Sanctuary. Poem: Thank you Make Believe Boutique
  • Prior “Lightly child, lightly” Posts? Connect here.
  • Post Title & Inspiration: Aldous Huxley: “It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.”

24 thoughts on “Lightly child, lightly.”

  7. Reblogged this on A Grateful Man and commented:
    “To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these – to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.” I agree that their is great need for more people to let their souls shine in the world, but I believe in many cases it takes no bravery at all. Being kind to others needn’t be an act of bravery, though it is certainly an act of love.

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    2. Russ, your words remind me of:

      “What if our religion was each other,
      If our practice was our life,
      if prayer our words?
      What if the temple was the Earth,
      if forests were our church,
      if holy waters—the rivers, lakes, and oceans.
      What if meditation was our relationships,
      if the teacher was life,
      if wisdom was self-knowledge,
      if love was the center of our being.”

      ~ Ganga White

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  11. Love all of this… especially “To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these – to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.”
    Shine on deck David 🌟

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  12. Beautiful! I especially enjoyed this line, “It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.”

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  13. “One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these – to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.”…Some people are beacons…/// I often end an email or a card to a close friend, with either keep shinning bright or shine bright…

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  14. Pingback: An Accumulation Of Acts | Kevin Barrett's Blog

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