alight

ever have one of those days where you just want to grab ahold of something that makes sense?  that through the muddle and fog of the "stuff" that comes with life, you want to find a listening ear, a piece of text, anything that can capture just an ounce of what you're feeling?  to feel that you're being understood, that you're being seen?  to know that you're not the only one who's going through it, even though at the time you do really feel completely alone?

 

well, i did.  today.  a blue day.

 

i was searching through my wallet for a receipt, a mindless task, when i came across one of the little messages i had kept from a fortune cookie (i have them all over the place, because they've become more like inspirational quotes, rather than fortunes):

 

"Never fear shadows.  They simply mean there's a light shining somewhere nearby."

 

it did make me pause for a second.  but at the time, i wasn't looking for inspiration.  i was looking for a distraction.

 

and then tonight, it hit me.  i've heard so many variations of that verse...

 

"It is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars."  --Richard Evans
 

“Only in the darkness can you see the stars.”  --Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

“I like the night. Without the dark, we'd never see the stars.”  --Stephenie Meyer

 

“Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.” --George Iles

 

suddenly, i didn't feel so alone.

 

and then i realized, things will look muddled if i want them to be.  but sometimes it's crystal clear.  we just need to want to see it.