489 IGNITING THE SPIRIT'S SPARKLE ...

Earlier this week, I had reason to come together with several neighbors, who have grown to be friends.  Today, a new neighbor, who had joined us, sent me this uplifting message via e-mail:

"It was so good to see you Wednesday.  Really, you just sparkle when you walk in a room!"

I replied:
Gosh!  Your kind words truly warmed my heart.
In recent years, I’ve had reason to re-evaluate my definition of friendship.
In truth, I had to dive in deep in hopes of rekindling the pilot light, which had once, naturally, ignited my spirit.  So, the fact that you’d perceived of my spirit as ‘sparkling’ meant a lot!

During that earlier time, I chose to absorb information, concerning the persona, pretense and denial.  Over time, I learned to differentiate between that portion of my spirit, which had been fueled at my core vs. the portion, which had been 'coached' to plug into a persona, which the Rules of Civility ‘expect’ us to ‘wear’.

Once I’d mustered the humility and courage to view the sum of my traits from the inside-out, my persona dropped off, and, today—what-you-see-is-who-I-am, through and through.  So, if I was sparkling that means my spirit felt fully animated upon connecting with all of you!
:-)


PS
RULES OF CIVILITY by Amor Towles
A novel, concerning:
What tangled webs we mortels weave while wearing personas ...