Spring begins today! It’s the moment in time when the forces of light and dark are strategically balanced. It sounds like the recipe for an intergalactic science fiction novel. . . Yet it’s totally real that as the power of the light intensifies with the spring season we think of planting new seeds for our lives. March is also my birthday month, so now is when I tend to think even more than normal about my life, my calling, and my purpose. In my work, as I’m sure in yours, we help people awaken to the star shine that they are. And I don’t take this lightly—no pun intended.
When I was a kid one of my dream careers was to be an astronomer. I loved the night sky, the planets, the majesty and wonder of the universe. I still do. I also wanted to be an actress. You might think they’re very different fields, but not really—both fields deal with stars and creativity! And in ultimately becoming a therapist, coach, spiritual director, and writer, I get to focus on the star in people like you. And this isn’t just hype, it’s our actual reality.
When I was a kid one of my dream careers was to be an astronomer. I loved the night sky, the planets, the majesty and wonder of the universe. I still do. I also wanted to be an actress. You might think they’re very different fields, but not really—both fields deal with stars and creativity! And in ultimately becoming a therapist, coach, spiritual director, and writer, I get to focus on the star in people like you. And this isn’t just hype, it’s our actual reality.
". . . not only do we live in the universe,
the universe lives within us.”
Neal de Grasse Tyson
Astrophysicist Neal de Grasse Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium, was quoted in an article by Chris Wright in the March 2015 Hemispheres Magazine, as saying, “There are certain ideas about the universe that affect people in profound ways—for example, the discovery that the atoms of your body are traceable to the actions of stars that exploded those atoms into the galaxy, out of which our solar system was formed. This fact tells us that not only do we live in the universe, the universe lives within us.” You may already well know this, but a reminder is always good. In the course of our daily lives and hassles, we can easily forget.
One of my favorite plays during my college days, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds by Paul Zindel, opens with the main character, teen-aged Tillie saying, “He told me to look at my hand for a part of it came from a star that exploded too long ago to imagine. This part of me was formed from a tongue of fire that screamed through the heavens until there was our sun. And this part of me—this tiny part of me—was on the sun when it itself exploded and whirled in a great storm until the planets came to be.”
So whether it’s astronomy or theatre, or counseling and writing, the message is ultimately the same: the wonder of the universe is awesome, the dance of the universe within our bodies is amazing, and the gifts we each bring to life, whether it’s a gift of artistic expression, a gift of listening, a gift of awakening others, a gift of loving another, is precious.
My birthday wish for you is that the seeds you plant this season will blossom to their fullest and most nourishing fruition for you and those your life touches.
One of my favorite plays during my college days, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds by Paul Zindel, opens with the main character, teen-aged Tillie saying, “He told me to look at my hand for a part of it came from a star that exploded too long ago to imagine. This part of me was formed from a tongue of fire that screamed through the heavens until there was our sun. And this part of me—this tiny part of me—was on the sun when it itself exploded and whirled in a great storm until the planets came to be.”
So whether it’s astronomy or theatre, or counseling and writing, the message is ultimately the same: the wonder of the universe is awesome, the dance of the universe within our bodies is amazing, and the gifts we each bring to life, whether it’s a gift of artistic expression, a gift of listening, a gift of awakening others, a gift of loving another, is precious.
My birthday wish for you is that the seeds you plant this season will blossom to their fullest and most nourishing fruition for you and those your life touches.
As spring emerges, what seeds of new life do you want to plant and grow and contribute to our ever-evolving universe? Please share them in the comments section below.
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