A Brief, Shining Moment

This morning, I was going to write all around my heart but that’s no good. Why look for words that no longer work? When life is hard, as it is in this moment, it is tempting to detach but I no longer live that way.

If I did, I would miss the lights of life so bright they can only be brief. Life is impermanent, not easy.

Some months ago I joined a group to do some good, and we are. However, the social media world is awhirl with cyber bullying and stalking. We are not immune nor was the light that brought us together. It must shine elsewhere, now.

Only to the extent that we expose ourselves

over and over to annihilation

can that which is indestructible

be found in us.

Pema Chodron in When Things Fall Apart

I know I must strip away the pain and go to the core of myself, having nothing to hold onto except who and what I am. In such moments, my flaws loom larger than ever, fed by fear. Like everyone else, I am neither all good nor all bad all the time.

In any moment, I’m somewhere on that spectrum—seeking a sliver of light or immersing myself in its brightness. Balance is available in either but no light ever stays.

Maybe that’s what life is, a collection of brief, shining moments, and upon our death, they light our leaving.

Aim for Even posts offer equanimity a dose at a time. No day or dose is ever the same, even if the aim is. You may read about the origins of Aim for Even here or on this site’s About page.