This week I met someone who glows. I’m sure you’ve encountered one of these people yourself.  Picture a snow lantern cut out paper bags all stencilled with random shapes. Put a tea candle inside and set it out on a path in the dark of the night to light the way for others into your warm, cheerful friendly lovely hot-mulled-cider-smelling home. This is what these people feel like; You want to cuddle up to them and warm your hands on their inner glow.

This person is beautiful inside and out but she absolutely positively BURNS when she starts talking about her passion. She is an educator and you can see the warm little tea candle get dialled up to bonfire when she starts talking about her children. And mind you, the possessive pronoun is clearly a key to unlocking her secret.

For me, the connection feels magnified in that I suspect her core purpose is similar to my own and primarily about turning on lights behind other people’s eyes. When you find someone who gives you more fuel… more juice… a boost in your purpose and reminds you why you’re doing it by externalising that experience, it’s spiritually strengthening in ways that are tangible in the feel of tight shoulders relaxing and intangible in the relief and validation it can provide. The moment of recognition… Oh you too! Lovely.

Selfishly, I have a strong desire to just repeatedly show up on her doorstep to get my own home fires rekindled – all about me and my needs. The past few years have been rough and sometimes I feel like I’ve lost my way a bit. The fallacy in that thinking, of course, is to assume this is a zero sum game. When we meet people like this, part of the wonder is that their glow is virtually inexhaustible. Sharing it just seems to double down on how much is available to all of us. There is a reason we surround candles with mirrors; It’s quite possible I can and will be her mirror as she will undoubtedly prove to be mine.

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” ~ Maya Angelou