Stevie, Light, and Feeling Awe

On moments

“But they’re gone so fast,” cried bird.

“And that’s why you better pay attention while you can,” replied bear.

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📷: Endless XL finding the light with the amazing @sew.see.art.love

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Her name is Stevie. And this morning, she crawls into bed with me before dawn.

Holding the blankets open as an invitation, she understands the assignment: quickly nestling in alongside; a cold nose meeting bare skin. The dark of night not quite ready to give way.

Per usual, she takes her time settling in. “Should I rest my head here or there,” I imagine her thinking, as she puts it on my leg, then my stomach, then my chest.

“How will I be warmest: stretching out or curling up?”

Important decisions made (stretched full length beside me, head snuggled against my chest), she falls back to sleep.

And I am in awe. Her little heart beating, her breath somehow echoing my own, her tail tickling my hip.

Rhythmic, relaxed, safe, we both fall back asleep.

Her lick wakes me, and for a brief moment, I’m at peace.

The sun is still not up, yet I feel a light in the dark.

There is me. There is her. And we’re together.

There is here. There is now. And we’re caring for one another.

It feels simple. It is real.

I’m flooded with gratitude, filled with love.

That light lingers a few minutes longer as I meet the day.

Where might you focus today to find – or be – a single moment of light in a dark, dark world?