We’re interconnected, and it’s wonderful how that leads to our and other’s immortality.

With calm attention or regular practice, we can feel our hearts open when others are near, or even as we remember them. How does this happen, this heart-connection?

What if every time the joy of life dances in our heart, a little piece of our soul – hand-in-hand with the spark of joy it sometimes savors – leaps right out of us and into the hearts of those most near to our own hearts?

Might that be like the little spark that can bring about a wonderful warming fire?

Might that be one way that we’re immortal, that our little spark is passed along for lifetimes to come? And might it be that other’s soul-sparks, now alive in us, can continue to live for a long time to come?

Our soul-sparks may be passed in longing, or might be from fear of loss.

What if every time the fear of death thrusts itself into our heart, a little piece of our soul – clinging tight to the immortality it’s so often promised – jumps right out of us and into the chests of the ones we love the most. For safe keeping, maybe. Just in case it finds itself with nowhere else to go. How many waves of troubled water must roil in all our breasts, after awhile. How many extra pangs we must feel, if we have lived right, to be loved enough to house a thing like that. – Found on Instagram by ceciliafairchild

I’ve noticed that when things are very dark, even the tiniest light can light up a room. It doesn’t happen the other way, that a little darkness will darken the light.

I’ve also noticed that in being touched and sparked by many hearts over the years, there are pieces of those loves and lives still very much alive in me.

Let’s celebrate each connection that continues to enliven us, and also enliven others.