The Magnificent Licorice Jelly Bean

Sunday dinner at my daughter’s home is always a wonderful event. Sunshine streams through her home, evidenced in so many ways.  One way is through the awesome messages that appear in some form of art on her walls…

Have an amazing day. 

Listen with your whole heart.

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

Love well.

My daughter and her family are also a source of Sunshine as they always greet visitors with open arms and warm, affectionate hugs, expressing their delight to have someone enter into the flow of their day.

Another way that Light shines through in this loving oasis is in the beautiful way she decorates for each season and holiday, celebrating all events of the changing calendar In order of their appearance on Mother earth.

And, on this particular Sunday, Easter, of course, was in full bloom in all of its glory.  All of the family’s favorite dishes had been prepared and  a very special signature Easter delight could be found in the center of the table:  a brilliantly colored assortment of jellybeans had casually arranged themselves as they were lovingly poured into a glass dish to bask in their Easter springtime glory.

And, as I fondly remember the lovely occasion, I ask:  Who has not experienced and delighted in the robust yet petite extravaganza of taste that is the jellybean!

After finishing our dinner, I eyed the brightly colored, tempting gems in their dish still reigning with such pomp and pageantry in the center of all of the festivities. 

It is time, I thought.  Definitely time for me to indulge in  this Easter delight   Perusing all of the available flavors, I selected what would be THE jellybean of my day.  To the chagrin of a few individuals still nearby, I selected the licorice jellybean.  Apparently, this was not a flavor of jellybean favored by them but, as a connoisseur of licorice, I could not have been happier.  

Now here is what I find to be most significant about my spectacular Easter jellybean:   

I only needed one.

ONE solitary jellybean, unadorned by a parade of cousin jellies, burst happily into its robust flavor as I took my first bite.  ONE jellybean satisfied my search for the perfect sweet ending to the lovely meal.  ONE delicious licorice jellybean evoked my culinary adoration.

There was no need to eat a second… in fact, it seemed as if a second would somehow dim the glory of the initial experience.

To me, it feels like my licorice jellybean “moment” that day was a microcosm of all of our life experiences.  It is a fact that I had been filled with lovely anticipation of the Easter celebration and also bathed in sunshine vibrations at my daughter’s home, but it is also true that the first...and only...bite was GLORIOUS and so wonderfully and engagingly SATISFYING.

What if we could reside in that incredible state of awe where EVERY FIRST MOMENT we encountered held something magical and entertained or delighted us or

 taught us something we did not already know.  What if our first taste, our first encounter could springboard us into new wonder or knowledge or appreciation!

It so easy to move quickly past the initial moment of our experiences, missing the majesty of each and every first encounter.

 Can you imagine the  magnificent “licorice jellybeans” just waiting to burst into our lives!

                                            Marie Helena 

                                                                                    

image frjom unixtitan.net

Holding Our Light

Everything changes when you emit your own frequency rather than absorb the frequencies around you.

                                                      Barbara Marciniak

We are all aware of what it’s like to “feel the vibe” when we encounter someone who is struggling with some upsetting emotions.  It is so easy to absorb that vibration. 

Suddenly, there it is surrounding us, cloaking us if we let it. And it’s hard to escape, difficult to be unaffected.  But what an awesome opportunity to hold our own light, even in the face of what might feel heavy or negative.  To emit and sustain our own beautiful frequency.  

What if we were to hold space and clarity for our own intention and vibration?  What if we were to see ourself in a luminous spotlight...an emanation that moves when we move...that goes where we go...beautifully illuminating our corner of the world?    

This SPOTLIGHT is a physical expression of our BOUNDARY.

From this vantage point we can view all the many other spotlights around us, each shining on other persons. We can be an OBSERVER as each individual lives his life...writes his own story.  And, most importantly, we can clearly see the difference between their spotlights and ours.

When we are able to hold our own light, it does not matter what kind of situation we encounter.  It is irrelevant because it is not ours.

We are not held at the mercy of what is going on around us. We are Creators… not reactors and not victims.  We create the space in which we wish to exist and we choose to sustain it. 

And, in doing so, we demonstrate for others the beauty of PRIMEcreation.  In this space, we also grow in strength and spirituality and are more able to extend compassion to the individuals in the spotlights where it is needed.

We are here to learn and practice the holding of our light until it becomes an effortless and ongoing sharing of unconditional love.

And everything changes.

                                        Marie Helena

    

image from ArtHearty

Easy-to-practice and Fun Watercolor Painting Techniques