Find Your Sparkle by Meredith Gaston

Author:Meredith Gaston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing
Published: 2019-09-26T16:00:00+00:00

Forming Constellations

People are not always as they seem. Things are not always as they seem. We are often very quick to make judgements about others based on superficial terms and with very little awareness. We can group people together, dismiss and judge others, even those of us who consider ourselves to be generally kind and generous people. When we label or judge people we simplify them, denying them their unique individuality, often even a chance. When we limit our friendships to those of a similar age or ‘kind’ as ourselves, we close our hearts to so many possibilities and so much magic along the way. We miss life-changing opportunities for connection, learning, love and friendship.

Meaningful bonds nourish us. When we connect meaningfully with each other we blossom, often in ways we could never even imagine or expect. Anais Nin wrote that each friend is a new world to discover, a new self. How magical this idea is to explore. Indeed, the more we open ourselves to joy and to learning, the more joyous and expansive we will feel. Some of us have been hurt and feel our hearts hardened to making new connections. Others are too busy and blind to others with whom we share our worlds. But then – a moment, a word, a touch, a tear, or some other event makes us feel our inner sparkles flickering within. Our hearts are reawakened to our true interconnectedness, and to the tenderness and perfect timing of grace.

When it comes to our wellbeing, loneliness is one of the most damaging states. Its effects have in recent studies been likened to those of smoking and obesity combined. Centenarians living in ‘Blue Zones’ around the world, those living happily and healthily into old age, are invariably living in community. (‘Blue Zones’ are areas around the world acknowledged for dietary and lifestyle practices that contribute to lower rates of illness and disease, greater overall health and longevity.)

It is the very experience of belonging that they attribute to nourishing their joy, youthfulness and vitality. Knowing this, we are called to open our hearts and connect with each other. We often have no idea just how lonely others may be feeling, and we are called to practise generosity of spirit. We can reach out to others with our love and care, involve ourselves in community, include the excluded, and make time for each other. We can listen to each other’s stories, sense our collective magic, and marvel in the inevitably common ground we share. As mindfulness teacher Sri Chinmoy asks, if our lives do not give joy to others, then how can we expect our hearts to give any joy to us? The more we disconnect, close our hearts and clip our wings, the less we live and the less we grow and sparkle. The more we listen, connect and grow together, the more reason we have to know our oneness and connect our sparkles into magnificent constellations. We shine all the more brightly when we shine together.

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