Letter from Jenny

Nothing can dim the light that shines within you.
~ Maya Angelou

Dear Springhouse community,

I hope this wintertime is giving you space to reconnect with yourself and reflect on what nourishes you. As I said in my last letter, through story, metaphor, and wisdom traditions, my letters this year will explore the mystery and power of this life hidden beneath the surface of things. This month, I will write about the light in the dark.

My archetype is a candle. A lantern. A star. A lighthouse. An archetype meaning an image or picture of how we experience the essence or truth of who we are. I have always been drawn to these things. I taped plastic Christmas candles relentlessly to the windows as a child and I had mobiles of stars and rainbows hanging from my ceiling until my early teen years. I am known in my family for lighting candles and sometimes forgetting about them–dripping wax onto all manner of things. I love the winter–mostly because of how I can see things I can’t in the other seasons. My family coat of arms is a finger pointing toward the sun. The coat of arms of the family I married into has owls all over it–those incredible night-seers. My doctoral work focused on befriending the darkness and I spoke about it years ago at a sweet Tedx conference held here in Floyd. I love the sparkle and the glitter of light, sometimes so much I can forget that it is known in the darkness...