Late Christmas Greetings!

I remember the first time I saw snow. I was seven and had come to the United States from India with my family, about three months prior. I could hardly believe what I was seeing through the living room window! I hurried and put my navy blue fuzzy coat on with a good warm hood and ran outside, eager to feel it’s sparkling beauty on my little self.

We’d heard of snow but if you didn’t live in the Himalyas, your brown Indian awareness had likely never laid eyes on this exquisite stuff. It was one of the things we eagerly anticipated from the moment we landed on American soil. And here it was! Way more mystical than I’d ever dreamed possible.

I stood quiet and still to listen for the falling, just as I loved listening to rain on roofs and sashaying against windows, but I heard absolutely nothing. I put my arm out in front of me so I could be sure this amazing wonder was landing on me, but I could feel nothing.

Wow! I thought. This is real magic. The silence and weightlessness of this sweet gift from an invisible sky augmented my awe and pulled me deeper into its quiet, conquering world, so full of mystery and joy.

I don’t remember how long I stood there, my right arm out in front of me, sweetly spell-bound, staring into the dimensions and layers of sparkling stardust coming to us on tiptoe like they had secrets hinted at with winks and giggles.

I enjoyed that winter immensely, learning to make snowmen, go sledding and eat icicles from the neighborhood kids. And to this day snow has never lost it’s enchanting beauty for me.

Wishing you all the sweetness of warm memories and magical moments this beautiful season. And may 2022 bring you the congregating joys of your heart!

Merry Solstice Hanukkah Kwanzaa Christmas!

My daughter and granddaughter

 

What a year! This has for sure been a time of big changes! With more alone time this year I gave some thought to what value all this was bringing into my life. The resulting response filtered into my consciousness sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically, and sometimes not in the absence of my own cynicism and criticism.

But thankfully, the echoes of my own heart revealed a growing peace and confidence cultivated by that radical claim stamped on my forehead:

the power of peace

The tumultuous world
Will always blow us
This way and that
With lies that birth prophets

Who stand tall
Because the winds
Make them
Live strong in their truth

Sometimes i feel like
The crickets and aspens
Who sing with the purity
Of their whole bodies

It’s the small truth
I offer the world
And
It’s my refuge

Like walking thru the halcyon
Of autumn
These fleeting weeks
When the sky shows her true heart

Lifting the veil to a dazzling sapphire
Enchanted with fairy dust and gold
Sudden scarlet piercing
The embracing blue

And i
Breathing the peace
Of feeling
Soft amber under my feet

The gentle coppery drift
Of changing seasons
Like promises
Rustling to become

Truth

-Shashi Light

sail on

the sail time travels on
shrinks and us smaller still
in the wake of sky-filled luminous canvas

you ride
with newgrace
newonder
newelation

Let us learn from you
to embrace what
time grants us

to hold what we touch
in reverence for what
it will grow within us

perhaps
that’s why we’re here

the seen and unseen
cannot separate worlds
they feed each other

shall we not mistake pain
for obstacles
and medals for self-worth

neither will reward
our great Consciousness
rising and thriving
when we seek the path
of self-realization

only with eye unblemished
by transient standards
of men and women

my hands cannot catch
the sparkle you sail on
bouncing from your unfettered heart

But I keep it
in a teaching place
so my mind will not forget
the unseen that grows inside me

and not regret
what escapes to less than dust someday

but eternel inside me

 

by Shashi Light
for Phil Emmanuel

Image by Maya Mendoza

Juneteenth

Several years ago, when I was living in LA, I was going home after an event downtown and it was late – probably around midnight. I had parked in a parking garage that only took cash. I realized that I didn’t have any, as I got in the parking garage elevator. It stopped at the next level and four big, very tall Black guys got in. As the elevator gently hummed the five of us up, I thought, well I could choose to be scared right now, but instead I said, “Do any of you have any cash? I don’t have any to pay for parking here.” All of them reached for their wallets and handed me money. I gratefully took what I needed and smiled and wished them a great night as I stepped off the elevator. (Just to be clear… I’m not insinuating that the color of their skin was cause for apprehension. Any woman alone in downtown LA late at night might be concerned when surrounded by four men of any variety she didn’t know.)

Yesterday I had the privilege of participating in a peaceful march. It felt so good to be a part of this pivotal point in the history of the world where things are changing, people are understanding what equality really means, people are seeing that a lot can be done to move towards real equality for Blacks, all over the world: economically, socially, politically, judicially, in the job market, in healthcare, and especially in our hearts.

Do something especially kind to/for Blacks at this crucial time when every voice needs to be heard.

from a place of love


for George Floyd

There’s a hope that never dies
Even after you’re gone
Into the light

Are you looking over your shoulder
At us
No more pain eclipsing your heart

Do you bend your wings
To smooth away our tears

We are tired of fighting
Invisible foes
For the danger is not broken glass
Or burning streets
But the fire inside cold hearts
That feeds itself
On arrogance reduced to fear

Can you see
Beyond our mortal eyes
A day when
No one has to
Hold a sign
To be recognised

Do you see the one
Who hurt you
As the one who bleeds inside

by Shashi Light
Image by Thomas Blackshear

love heals

I want to share some thoughts that have been rolling around in my head over the last several days. First of all, my heart goes out to any of you who may be dealing with illness caused by COVID-19 or have a loved one who is.