This little light of mine....and yours

Do you have any "weird" traditions in your family, or things you like to do to remind yourself of who you are or where you're headed?

For me it's lighting candles.

As a kid when we'd travel as a family, my mom would walk into every church or cathedral to light a candle for the people in her family who had passed, and for the generations before them that she never even knew. There are A LOT of churches in Europe (where I grew up), so this became an inside joke in our family. Another church, another candle 😂

My brother and I held the important responsibility of holding the lit candles and placing them next to another, half-melted stick honoring another soul.

It was always a sacred moment.

One day she explained that the flame didn't just honor the loss; it honored the life and the POSSIBILITIES for the ones left behind.

That was key for me, and the reason I've continued the tradition.

I light candles and let those flames burn for what is still alive. For the spark that still exists no matter how much pain we're in. Sometimes the flame dims. It flickers. It seems to almost go out, but the light inside us is always fighting to be heard, to be seen and to be free.

Our duty in life is to find out what stokes that flame and what it will take to bring us back to our full fledged brightness.

It starts with love and compassion and belief and courage. And recognizing that you have a message and an idea and a mission that's worth giving life to.