This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.

At the heart of the Sacred Rebellion enquiry is the question of how we let our lights shine, how we bring our gifts to the world, how we respond to the call in our hearts to contribute what we love to the world.  How we start to do this, how we continue to do this and how we roll with what the path presents to us when we walk it.

I'm so interested in what it takes for us to truly step in to this vulnerable and alive space where we put ourselves on the line and speak our hearts desire so we might start to create a life we once only dreamed of.

This week I have been thinking about what it's taken for me to start writing, to start saying what it is that I feel called to share with others.  And one of the biggest factors involved in my starting and coming back to it again and again is that I have had a very small, passionate, flickering and alive flame which could have easily (and could still very easily) been blown out.  And I have put this flame in the hands of people who I know will encourage me, nurture my vulnerability and keep me coming back to the vulnerable place even when I want to return to safety and smallness.

I want to say this to you - that when there's something you dream of, the thing that's in the corner of your mind that you'd love to do, an idea that you feel is unrealistic or impossible - please share it with someone you trust.  So they can hold you,  encourage you and to support you in its birth.  Some ideas may never come to fruition - but that's not the point.  We need to keep the sparks coming, creating a culture of welcome for whatever inspiration and creativity wants to come.

And this culture is not created by us alone, it's created by a community of support for the things we hold sacred - and that community is people, kind audiences that are not critical or exacting, but warm and gently welcoming of our contribution.  In the future we may (probably!) face the critics, but at the start of things, the flame needs caring for so as not to be blown out.  It needs to be held in loving and gentle hands for it to gain strength.  Mother lions do not put their cubs into battle as soon as they are born, they are protected, nurtured, fed and cared for until they are strong enough to fend for themselves.  And so it is with our baby ideas, they naturally need the same treatment.

Even if that presence you share an idea with is me - you could message me on this page privately just so you have spoken it once into the world to start with.   That witness could be your pet ? It could be a tree ? The only criteria is that it's a loving presence that you trust will hold your flame gently and lightly with the eyes and ears of encouragement and warmth.