The drive that taught me how to see

I love the light of the dawn, and I'd like to share a true story I had published in a book titled - '365 Life Shifts’, about the power of light -

I’m driving early one cold winter morning, on my way to hold a dance workshop at a bookshop café. The memory of the warmth, light and aroma that envelops me there, is like a blanket around me, keeping out the chill.

It’s still a little dark, and I come across banks of thick fog. Slowing down at these, I wonder at how solid they look, and how grey and dismal it feels to be inside them.

Then, just as my eyes begin to adapt to this darkness, the pre-dawn light starts to shine through the fog and amazingly reveals it to be just mist. As I drive on, it looks more and more wispy and insubstantial, scattered here and there. I watch it dissipate as the glorious pinks and gold of the dawn take over until I feel I’m part of this, and I imagine blowing it away myself, or better still, thinking it away.

At that moment the remnants of the fog transform before me, and in my mind’s eye they become the things that I’ve felt as being solidly oppressive in my life. I can see scenes of conflict that have seemed irreconcilable, from those among my friends and family to those that are still causing wars. All manner of other things present themselves before me - things that I’ve feared in the past and others that I’d still rather not look at, as I feel unable to face them.

When seen in this magnificent dawn light, they look so flimsy, as though there’s nothing to them - shadowy tatters of thoughts. The light shining through them is so much more real and strong!

I realise then what a gift I’m being given through this remarkable spectacle. There before me, all that causes me any kind of pain - and stops me from being fully myself - is being shown up for what it is: dark thoughts and feelings that can only maintain their solidity in the absence of light. As I drive on, I whisper my gratefulness, knowing I’m being shown the way forward.

Can you think of fears and other obstacles in your life that could be dissipated like mist in the dawn light? What would it take to do this? Imagination is a powerful tool connected to creativity, you can put it to use for you anytime you choose.

‘Wonderful and so true Helen - I will need to read this a few times to absorb the imagery. You have an incredible mind and soul...’ - Ruth Bowen - Marketing and sales consultant, in Ruth’s words: 'an unlikely but big supporter of Helen’s creativity and immense capability to find the positive way forward in everything.’