As I woke up this morning, before writing my morning pages, I was reminded by the light that was coming through the curtains how lucky I am when I can see the world with an open heart to collect beautiful “pearls of light”.
They are the source of beautiful inspiration and I fill my creative well with these. The pearls of light are created with love.
Love is like the grain of sand that the oyster needs to create a pearl.
It doesn’t mean to create beauty, it just does. And love creates the pearls of light that I keep collecting when I listen carefully and can find with an open heart. What am I talking about?
I’m talking about a touch, a look, a gesture, a small act, which more than words, conveys the love of a person for someone else.
The first little grain of sand which turns into a pearl of light is the smile that I receive first thing in the morning from my beloved, just because he is happy to see me. This smile fills my day with delight. I’ve learned to smile to myself when I’m on my own or when I greet myself in the mirror. A simple smile – like the one I’m feeling right now as I’m writing these lines: this is one of the pearls of light that I cherish.
Let me share with you the other pearls of light that touched me particularly deeply in the last month:
The dedicated teacher
As I was in the atelier with friends one evening, the visiting sister of a dear friend of mine was looking intently at one of the new paintings that I had created. I used thick coats of paint on this particular painting which created a 3-D effect of trees in a spring garden. My friend’s sister asked me if she could touch the painting and I gladly accepted as I feel that acrylic paint lends itself to being touched. I could sense her excitement and joy as she “read” the paintings with her hands and I asked her why she was doing this. Her answer touched me deeply as she told me that she was a primary school teacher for blind children and she wanted to discover the paintings the way her pupils would do it. I was so touched that, during her vacation, she had instinctively thought of them. I immediately decided to give her this painting. She insisted that she would put it in the classroom and asked me to write at the back “For the schoolchildren” and not just for her. So much dedication showed me an incredible calling. It was so obvious to me that teaching was her calling and mission in life that I could only abide.
The touching grandfather
At my niece’s wedding in France, the groom’s family who lives in Portugal, was unable to join in person due to the pandemic. As a surprise for the groom, the whole family sent their good wishes in their native language to the bride and groom via video. There was so much tenderness in the message by the grandfather of the groom, an elderly many who had probably never been on camera before, that the whole wedding party (there were 80 of us) could feel the transmission of grandfatherly love and bittersweet tenderness of his message beyond the language barrier. For an instant, we all became his grandchildrenfelt his love.
The discreetly supporting hand
This is a gesture that I did not pay any particular attention to before. I was asked by a friend to take pictures at her wedding (yes, June was the wedding month…). I wanted to be non obstrusive and also to take photos from different angles. So I was able to catch this particularly lovely attention which I since then have noticed time and time again. This is such a delicate gesture that it is not always noticeable to the person who is receiving it. To me, this feels like such a loving gesture which whispers “I am here, I am at your side, you can rely on me”, but so tender, so discreet, so loving and reassuring and energy-giving.
What pearls of light have you put in your heart recently which have inspired you?
I’d love to hear in the comments below.
