A Fragile Request: Hold Life with Caring and Tenderness

I have to admit: I have been fascinated by prisms, crystal spheres, and reflective lens since I was very little!  The ability to project rainbows across the room or reflect and enlarge images seemed magical to my young mind.

While vacationing in Alaska a few years ago, the majestic peaks of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park were magnified through crystal lenses suspended beneath the lodge's vaulted ceiling.  Grandeur amplified!  And, a recollection of the magic of earlier times!  As I moved around the suspended mobile of crystal lenses, I noticed that different aspects of the mountain range came into focus.  Together, the lenses, changing my position, and noticing all reflected different aspects of the landscape outside.  It also invited an internal observation that I can always see anew!
 

Crystal reflections: an invitation to see differently

My fascination with crystal prisms and lenses came back into focus last month when Dea, a friend and dialogue colleague, talked about the lessons she has been learning.  Through the practice of dialogue, she is realizing:

• Lesson 1:  how fragile our lives and relationships are; and,
• Lesson 2:  how she tries to begin each day imagining or actually holding a fragile crystal in her hand - calling to mind Lesson 1.

Life reflections: holding lightly (Pinterest Images)

Dea observed that fragile is not always seen as a positive word.  Sometimes it projects an image that a person is weak or frail.  But, if we change our focus and suspend previous definitions or meanings, we may realize another aspect of this word:  being fragile can draw forth a sense of being precious, a desire to respond in a tender manner, and a capacity to care for another person.

As we learn to hold this fragile image, we may notice that the reflections in the lens actually reveal the connections that are so precious and important to us!

Holding onto the connections we reflect (Visual Photo Guide)

In Active Engagement, Contemplative Dialogue, and Dynamic Dialogue, we are reminded of Sacred Worth and Value - for Self, for Other, and for Creation.  It is in these moments that we practice ways to hold lightly: what we say; how we respond; and where we may become vulnerable (fragile) with Self and Other.  This means revealing to the other person  what we see or think... and listening to another perspective.  If we move slightly, we may begin to see differently: we may begin to realize that there are many valid views.
 

Rainbows sparkle from a fragile crystal

So, returning to crystal prisms!  Teri, a work colleague, and her husband, Vaughn, invited two tired and out-of-state co-workers to their home for dinner one day last August.  What caught my attention at one point in the evening were a number of prisms dangling in front of several windows and casting rainbows across the room.  These rays of light added more color to Teri and Vaughn's already warm and inviting home.  As the sun moved across the windows, the rainbows and images changed, and our friendships deepened through the sharing of food and conversation.  It was a magical evening! 

Fragile crystals can illuminate rooms:  caring for precious relationships can change who we are becoming... together!

The invitation this week:

• What relationships are important to you?
• In what ways will you hold lightly the desires and needs of Self?  Of Other?
• Where may you shift or listen differently to another person?

May this week be filled with rainbows, reflections, and images enlarged by Caring, Tenderness, and Preciously-Fragile Connections!

Larry Gardepie