Bend to the Light

Monday I taught a brand new workshop to a room full of people who had never heard of me. On a platform filled with teachers who have changed my own life. It moved fast. It went well.

To celebrate, I went outside and cut myself a bouquet. That’s when I found this blanket flower. Of course she had a lesson for me.

She isn’t perfect. Her petals are uneven. Her stem is crooked. And still, I chose her for my bouquet.

She was bent low, reaching for sunlight underneath a heavy, gorgeous cover of black-eyed susans and false sunflowers. That bend is exactly how I found her bright red petals. She bent toward the light. She never gave up. She had to let go in order to bloom. And then she was pruned away, so her joy could come into the house.

Courage often looks like bending toward the light no matter what. Never letting the darkness swallow us, break us, or stop our blooming. When we bend toward the light, our light gets seen.