The night before Halloween, it is said to be the darkest night of the year. This year, I made a conscious decision to celebrate LIGHT on this day…
My friend Jill called and invited me to go to the Diwali festival with her and her husband Dale. One thing I have promised myself on this journey is that I will honor myself and allow myself to experience life, other cultures and their traditions. I grew up on a Mountaintop in West Virginia there was not a lot of experiencing culture there, so I spent my time in the woods swinging on grapevines “pretending to visit other lands and other people”
Now that I am grown, I can truly experience life… and I chose to do so!
We parked the car and before we could even get to the festival I was dancing… the music of life moves me in ways that I suppose only I can understand. Luckily I have been blessed in life with friends who “get that” part of me.
I made it into the festival and at the very first booth before I could even get a full view of the grounds a fine looking young man had unwrapped a fuschia colored Saree. It was made of silk and had such beautiful hand sewn flowers and decoration as the border. I was instantly mesmerized and could see myself wearing the Saree… to…to… well to the Grocery store, the doctors office, the bead store… you see, I can so easily see myself in my own visions that it just might as well be so.
Since I am not getting married tomorrow with an Indian ceremony the Saree would be a bit eccentric to most… but actually I thought it just screamed my name. As a matter of fact this entire event is just screaming my name. They say the eyes are the doors to the soul, and for this event I have left my doors wide open.
Diwali or Deepavali is commonly referred to as the festival of light, and it is a day of gaiety and merriment. The intent of this holiday is to Glorify the Light of God. (How can you not love that? It just brings a smile to my heart to hear the words) On the whole, Dawali signifies the triumph of good over evil, of rightousness over trachery, of truth over falsehood and of light over darkness.
This is a day to celebrate the inner light. Imagine that a day of looking at our soul and honoring it, rather than focusing on the “outside”. Imagine a day to let our true self shine, instead of being focused on the outside decoration, costumes, masks ect…For the first time in my adult life.. I am celebrating the darkest night of the year in light.
Jill, Dale and I walked around the event and took in every moment, every experience. Jill and I signed on for a Henna tattoo. We also enjoyed some of the delicious Indian foods. A Dall Roti with vegetable curry. We shared a piece of Laddo, an Indian sweet.
We also got to watch an Indian Wedding ceremony… maybe I missed it..but I did not hear those words “I promise to obey”….
I am making myself a promise… I promise to honor my inner light….after all when it is all said and done, it is me I have to answer to before I lay down to sleep.. I don’t want to explain to myself why I neglected to take care of me… why I didn’t honor my inner most thoughts and desires…
Sometimes you just have to step outside the box, get out of the comfort zone and experience life. Even though I am not from India, I learned so much about their customs and beliefs and guess what? I can apply them to MY life. Now to figure out how to get that Saree…
How about you? What are you doing today that YOU really want to do? How are you honoring yourself and making the most of your life?
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