“October is a fallen leaf, but it is also the wider horizon more clearly seen. It is the distant hill once more in sight, and the enduring constellations above that hill once again.” -Hal Borland
Before we left the USA to wander the globe, our children attended a beautiful school on Bainbridge Island in the Pacific Northwest. The Island School had a Fall Carnival every year and it was the sweetest community gathering. The boys were in kindergarten and first grade when I volunteered to be in charge of the autumn craft station. I took our then 4-year-old daughter shopping for supplies, and, as you might imagine, we ended up with a lot of glitter.
During the event, as glue sticks and craft paper littered the tables, there was a darling girl who was truly enjoying her art, as she caught my eye. The glitter reflected the sun’s rays in a little dance on her worktable when she looked up. “Where does glitter come from?”
I knew her question was not about which store I sourced it from but something much greater and in the moment, I simply said, “Where do you think it comes from?”
We left the following autumn on our never-ending journey and I have often thought of her question as the air turns crisp and memories of the community carnival fill me with nostalgia.
GLITTER, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is: to send forth light; to shine with many small flashes of brilliance; shimmering.
Here is what I would say to her now after all these years bearing witness to glittering Octobers in many different corners of the globe:
GLITTER comes from… the way the light hits the river bank in Wanaka, New Zealand.
GLITTER comes from… the children at the Ashram/Orphanage where we taught English in Singaraja, Indonesia getting ready for the full moon ceremony.
GLITTER comes from… light bouncing off wet crab pots in the Swedish archipelago.
GLITTER comes from… late night tuk tuk rides through the streets of Bangkok where the night air rushes past cooling skin dampened by the heat of the day.
GLITTER comes from… family strolls around the wall in Lucca, Italy bundled in scarves as the sound of kids running through the crisp fallen leaves alerts the change of seasons.
GLITTER comes from… ukulele lessons on the North Shore of Oahu when there is a touch of fall in the trade winds.
GLITTER comes from… October adventures when just looking out the window holds the promise of something new.
GLITTER comes from sunsets on Manly Beach in Australia when it is autumn in the Southern Hemisphere (April) and you feel upside down and yet connected in a whole new way.
GLITTER comes from… that moment in the mountains where two seasons hang in perfect balance.
GLITTER comes from… “watching with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.” – Roald Dahl
It is true, that all that glitters is not gold, but some things are far more precious.
How did the sweet girl at the craft table answer my question about where she thinks glitter comes from? She said, “It comes from me.”
And I thought, as she walked away, maybe we create a map back to ourselves by plotting points of awareness of the tiny, glittering flashes of brilliance.
And maybe, just maybe, others can see their way through moments of darkness with more clarity when we pay more attention to sending forth our own light. As Eckhart Tolle writes, “Everything is shown up by being exposed to the light, and whatever is exposed to the light itself becomes light.”
Are you ready to LIVIT?
