Bringing the Light

December 31, 2014

The word light has more than one meaning from illumination to matters of weight. It can be a noun, verb or adjective and at dictionary.com, there are 44 definitions and expressions for light.

Historically, the sun was worshipped as a god and was/is interconnected with life including the growing of living things to feed living beings. Members of ancient religions, seeking to celebrate the return of the light created rituals for this time of year, some of which endure today. I don’t know if making resolutions for the new year was part of their practices but we’ll get to that in a moment.

I have referred previously to the many seemingly dark events have come to our attention and to the forefront of news outlets: NSA spying; sexual assaults on campus, in India, in war torn countries, in police custody and the list goes on including Bill Cosby. Wall Street financial fraud; extinction of species; illegal practices by our politicians among others and the toxicity of our food supply and personal care products are other formerly deep dark truths that have been around for some time. There is good news in all of this if you can believe it: It’s all being brought to light.

Can anything be dealt with or healed without being brought forth and faced? Would you rather have a wound that is deep and festering or one that comes to the surface to be healed in the air and light of day? Give me sight & light any day over secrets that are hiding & abiding.

Think Erin Brockovich and what she uncovered – the lies and cover-ups that were causing unprecedented rates of cancer in Hinkley, CA due to chemical processing at a PG&E plant. The painful realities and symptoms brought enough visibility to lead to the source of the issue… and its resolution. Visibility, transparency, what’s highlighted, that is the key.

So where’s the lightness in this newsletter? It’s the call for action, the call to rip the band-aid off secrets or lies, the call to lighten the weight of any secrets you may be hiding, whatever you aren’t facing. Oh how healing the feeling of living out in the light, supported by the weightlessness of transparency! Authenticity is the buoyancy that comes from revealing one’s truth.

Do you want to bring the light in 2015? Are you having an affair, hiding an addiction or withholding other important and relevant information? I’ll mention once again something I shared a few months ago. Biologist Bruce Lipton tells us that we are made up of 50 trillion cells, that those cells can do two things and they can do only one of them at a time – protect or grow. Do you want to protect what’s hidden or grow? Your cells, your body will let you know the effects of your decision.

Making resolutions brings to light how we want to grow in the light of a new year. Here are my suggestions if you choose to make one or some resolutions for your 2015, especially if you choose to bring the light and grow.

  1. What do you most want to be/do/have? What do YOU most want? Breathe with that for a bit.
  2. Make only those resolutions you really, fully want to make. It’s the same as making agreements with others – if you say you’ll do something but don’t really want to, it’s not likely you’ll do it.
  3. Are you willing to truly welcome this result into your life? Changes can bring other changes!
  4. Are you ready to follow up consistently in order to bring this desire about? Committing to something requires that all parts of you collaborate and move in the same direction. You may say that you want to give up desserts but if you add “It’s too hard; I can’t resist pie!” it goes against your commitment.
  5. Are you able to have fun with it? Keeping some resolutions can be made more fun and they can also be made to feel weighty, blamey and difficult.

In making resolutions, and with life in general, bringing the light is a courageous act but an easier one in the long run despite any apparent initial darkness. Bumping up against learning edges lets you know you are heading in a worthwhile direction.

It’s all improv,
Jody Kaylor

Recommended resources:
Authenticity
Learning to Speak the Truth