Light Workers and You

I was introduced to the term “light worker” years ago when I was studying to become a reiki master. It was so intriguing that I read up on the subject once I was certified. 

Light workers are walking among us. They are energy workers, artists, physical and spiritual healers. You know them when you meet one. You experience a shift in energy just by being in the same space. 

After reading several articles about this phenomenon I started thinking about all the healers in my life. My minister, my artist friends, my mom, and my mentors. 

You don’t have to have a title or job description or even any formal training to be one. It’s who you are at your core.

Some questions to ask yourself: Do people feel safe around you? Are you open-hearted and approachable? Are you able to be present with someone who is struggling without trying to “fix” them? Do strangers want to talk to and connect on a deeper level with you? Are you unafraid to lean into a difficult emotional discussion when someone is pouring their heart out to you?

I have a friend that when we met and shook hands I immediately felt light-worker energy. It was like getting hit with a lightning bolt. We became friends instantly and I’ve encouraged her to study reiki. She is an artist. Her career choice and success at it are proof enough to me that she carries this internal light needed to help her audience connect with not just her but with themselves.

You know you’ve been with a light worker because you FEEL it during and especially after an interaction. If you’ve had a massage, your therapist is likely doing reiki at the same time so that deep sense of grounding is not just the body work but the spiritual work as well.

Healing from any trauma or grief or pain is a whole-person effort. We like to talk about our nervous systems like they’re somehow separate from our bodies. Or that our hearts breaking are not also our souls breaking at the same time. 

Light workers understand that you cannot heal in a vacuum. You need to be held by a loving energy that considers all of your being. 

Do you think you might know one or be one? If so, notice people’s comfort level around you/them. Do you feel a deep need to be present for others? Are you unafraid to sit with someone’s messy feelings if it helps them get through it? Are you ok with being present for the dying and having honest conversations around their fears and regrets?

If so, you are a light worker and we all need to step up our game for the good of humanity. We live in dark times where the destruction of kindness and compassion reigns. Where human life is not valued by many of our leaders. And where deep feelings are openly mocked by a movement that equates brutality with strength, and kindness with weakness.

I’ve referenced a site below that I don’t have a connection to but it describes what a light worker is better than I can.

https://innergrowthcenter.com/signs-you-are-a-lightworker/

Are you one? Have you experienced being in the presence of one? Will you join me in embracing the gift and spreading that energy into a broken world? 

It will take all of us to bring healing and a deep sense of peace to our neighbors around the planet (and the planet itself). And, as always, it starts with the light workers among us. Join me. 

Shiny Things

I was raised Catholic so Easter has a lot of strong memories for me. Shiny new patent leather shoes that we bought at a shoe store in Nashua where the salesman put your little foot into a metal measuring tool.  I still remember the excitement. We kids had two pairs of shoes — school and play. So dressy shoes were a special treat.

If the weather was bad I was not allowed to wear my dressy shoes as we walked to church. I remember how upset I would get because I felt robbed of my fancy shoes and who wants to show off your fancy dress with rain boots. I mean, it ruined the whole vibe. 

Culture is much less concerned with those things now. Everyone drives everywhere because we’re so over-scheduled and live farther away from places especially being in the suburbs. Churches are fewer too. And as a society we’ve gotten much less interested in pantyhose and shiny shoes. 

My paternal grandparents lived a block away from church but rarely attended church together and we would visit them after mass. My grandmother was an English Anglican and my grandfather was Irish Catholic. 

Their union was an abomination 100 years ago and they kept a low profile at Easter. My grandpa had to sneak his kids into churches in other communities because my nana’s absence would be questioned by their neighbors. And once the priest found out about my nana they would ostracize my grandpa and his kids. That would then force them to go to churches in other towns.

I never understood religious bigotry until I was older. I still have a hard time with it. My dad knew it and lived it as a child and he and my mom (bless them both) raised their own kids to be anti-prejudice and accepting of others who were different. 

So we’d show up with our new shiny outfits every Easter and my grandparents would consider that visit to be their Easter worship. They loved my mom because she never cared about anything other than who people were in their hearts. 

On Easter I take a moment to remember those days. And feel overwhelming gratitude that my parents raised their kids to break the cycle of bigotry and speak out loudly against it. My siblings and I are all better people because of that. I believe I’m in this church right now because of them and my dad’s parents. 

I’ve swapped out shiny shoes for cowboy boots. And Catholicism for Unitarian Universalism but the core values I learned at Easter still remain. Love your neighbor, celebrate spring, and be open-hearted. 

I light the chalice today for shiny shoes and shiny memories. May we teach our children love, acceptance, and compassion at Easter and always.