“It takes real courage to live from the still strong voice within. Most people have never heard this voice or there is so much noise inside their head that it is barely audible. Of course it is not really a voice at all, but a rather more like a tiny flame, a spark, a burning ember. It is a passion for living that yokes us to wonder and delight. Rumi called it the “inner secret” and Rilke the “great solitude.”

Have you ever known someone who has the spark? If you ever find someone who does and the fire in their eye burns bright, be with them as much as possible. For this person is hard to find. Today people are so afraid of their own passion. Or their passion gets lost in shadow, their minds turn outward and they spurn the voice of the spirit whisperer.

Find time to be still and quiet inside, close the gap between your thinking mind and your heart beat. Feel the tremble of longing inside you. Like the salt that binds each of the cells in your body, it is the substance that holds you together and makes you feel entire and complete. Breathe into the spark of creation that lives in you, so that you give your soul the oxygen it needs to shine luminous and bright.”

by Tias Little

(Painting details by Polly Castor)