A Space for all that Sparkles

This week, a dear professor of mine passed away. Colin Campbell was his name, and he was one of my literature professors. I was privileged to be able to take multiple classes with him during my four years of undergraduate studies.

I smile with tears in my eyes as I think of him now.

“Work on making that sentence, sparkle” he would tell me. Sparkly words, mermaids, a deep of love of literature, spirituality, laughter…so many wonderful memories of this man. He lived to be 90, so the bit of sadness that I now hold in my heart isn’t from some tragic loss of life. No….it’s something more.

I think I miss the feeling I had during that time in my life. I was 18, away from home for the first time, and literature and writing dazzled me. Learning moved me! I wrote daily, experimented with words, and read and read and read until my heart’s content.

But it was also a time of great pain in my life. My parents had recently divorced and I had just begun a dark journey that would take me years to pull out of.

And yet…here I am!

Alive. Reading. Writing. A mom. A spiritual warrior and lover of the written word, just like Colin will be forever remembered as. A freedom fighter!

Thank you, dear professor, for reminding me of what joy is, of what gratitude looks like, and what a rich life can be.

And that is what I am seeking now…to not come to the end of my life with regrets. I know that you did not.

Yes, I have missed opportunities. I wish I had been braver earlier on in my life. But with Colin’s passing, I am reminded of sparkles and of what a renewed life can look like.

I started this journey a while ago, and this moment is another passage in that journey. Thank you, Divine Love, for letting me back into Colin’s world for a moment, and for reminding me of this precious time in my life. And thank you for giving me more time with him a few years back during a college reunion. We laughed and talked of literature, life, and grandkids….just a few precious moments, really, but they were full of power and change and joy.

My love of writing, literature, and reading has never faltered throughout my life. I continue to seek out the sparkle in my own writing and know that professor Campbell is a big reason for this. I honor you, now, in this moment, sir, and thank you for all that you gave to me.

Shine on!

Call to Action: Who is the sparkle in your life? How can you honor them now?