Tag: insight
It is time.
I Can See Who You Are
We hustle.
We bustle.
We cover up.
We avoid.
In the constant press forward,
the moments are lost.
When able to still ourselves,
we can catch glimpses of
what is real.
I sat with a patient,
one of the sweet ones
with dementia.
Her eyes alive
with love and openness…
Her speech cute and senseless
most of the time.
I am present to her
and focus on being –
instead of doing.
When the time for goodbye comes,
I touch her shoulder
and lean in.
Her eyes widen
as these words spill forth
in clarity and affection:
“I can see who you are!”
Grace finds me
and I am blessed by her glimpse.
I am reminded…
I am Love.
Copyright@ Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2018
In the Right Light
My Love points the camera
towards me
and I playfully resist…
“Take my picture outside
and from that preferred angle, my dear.
It makes a more flattering picture.”
I look in the mirror
and the bathroom light is on dimmer…
All I can see are wrinkles!
I change the brightness in the room
and my image improves.
I find my smile.
My Love, the Artist,
paints a lovely picture.
He uses reflective paints that
need the right angle and intensity
of illumination.
He tilts his creation my way –
in the right light –
its beauty deepens.
All these are glimpses
of an important lesson:
How we see things
is shaped by
the type of light we shine on
what is before us.
To see clearly,
be aware of your beam.
For life is dimmed
and perception is affected
by gloom.
To brighten,
simply flick the switch
and tilt towards it.
Observe the changes.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2018
Start with you…
Be Lifted
I sometimes like to watch
the float of a feather.
It can show up unannounced
and bless me
with fresh lightness.
Watching its flowing movement
with no steering wheel
to direct
or engine powering it –
Well, it looks like freedom.
Most of us
tend to be weighted
by our day to day.
We load up our minds
with fiction
that keeps us from
the float of grace
intended for us.
Watch the feather,
I tell myself.
It has no need to
drive or direct,
no agenda to meet,
no cares to protect.
It simply rests
on the unseen flow of life.
It rises above beautifully.
The feather’s lift
is a wonder to behold –
the mystery and gift
of grace realized.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2018
Force Less, Allow More
Making the U Turn
When the trip wire
gets touched
and partially healed places
wound again,
take a breath.
Your usual patterns
of blame and retaliation
will not serve you.
In fact,
they will deepen the wound.
The truth is
the world will always
try to trip you up.
And the world
is everything outside of you.
To survive with grace
and even joy,
no matter the obstacles before you,
live from the inside.
That is where truth lives –
the place of your divine self.
Nothing outside of you
can destroy your peace
without your permission.
Turn away from drama.
Go deep.
Look at yourself.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2018
Begin Again and Stay There
The Call of the Light
Breaking through the gray
as the darkness begins to enfold me,
it appears:
Remember me? I am here.
I barely hear its message.
I am too caught up in the gloom.
Remember me? I am here.
The light persists…
but the darkness holds on.
Look up, look out. There is more.
The invitation gets more urgent
for the light can see
more than I can.
It does not want
the darkness to swallow me.
The light begins to reach out
and touch me.
It opens my heart.
As my heart warms and flexes,
my vision gradually blooms –
the shadows retreat
and the glow arrives.
I am healing
and the light
leads me forward.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2018
Artwork by my sister, Martha Harris: “Beacon”
Becoming and Beholding 