During the last few months in business (Sept. 2020 - Jan. 2021), I’ve witnessed the desperate need and search, among children and adults, for hope, courage, belonging, compassion, and connection in their lives. In The Gifts Of Imperfection, Brene Brown explains that, “Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy - the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”
I’m a very visual person and love analogies, so when Light imagery began to be a prominent part of my day, I took notice and then it kind of exploded into this life journey analogy. Recently, during my personal coaching sessions, I verbally processed what I’m currently experiencing and feeling, and explained that I feel like something is bubbling up inside me and about to explode, like a volcano, but I knew the explosion was not to be destructive - which confused me at first because what explosion is not destructive? Suddenly, as if a light switch had flipped in my mind, I saw a star exploding, and I was able to recall that stars are born from explosions, which triggered instant excitement and my Love of Learning, which led me to this Noor Tagouri quote, “For a star to be born, there is one thing that must happen: A gaseous nebula must collapse. So collapse. Crumble. This is not your destruction. This is your birth.”
The words “rebirth”, “revival”, “connection” and “journey” have been my guiding compass this year as I wander through the darkness, searching for and following any spark of light. Now I feel like the star within me is about to be born, radiating light outwards like a lighthouse, and I have realized that my compass was not leading me to a place, but instead my Constellation, one by one, spark by spark, slowly becoming more and more illuminating, through our shared experiences, compassionate hearts, and encouragement of hope and courage to shine our brightest, even in a world that tells us we are ‘too much’.
During the chaos of 2020 I rediscovered my light within and have decided to make it my rebel mission to seek out other dimmed lights, reignite them, fuse together and explode so that we can all be reborn as the Stars we are born to be, and then courageously shine our light into the darkness of the world.
~ Coach Brittni
