This is how you can fill your life with brightness.
We hear it around Christmastime: all is calm and all is bright. That second word gave us pause. How can someone – or something – be brighter… and how can we incorporate this brightness into our lives not just during the holidays, but all year round?
So, we added bright to our Studio 5 Christmas list, and we reached out to Studio 5 Parenting Contributor Heather Johnson, who shared why brightness matters.
The Essence of Brightness
Heather described brightness as something that is illuminated, cheerful, and positive. “There’s hope in the word bright,” she said.
Brightness isn’t just about personal experience; it’s about shining outward and spreading positivity to others. “If you think about a room that’s very bright, it spills out into the hallway,” Heather explained. This illumination and positivity are qualities we all hope to maintain throughout the year.
Why Brightness Matters
Brightness and hope are interconnected. Heather believes that when things look brighter, we have more hope, and this hope, in turn, makes things look even brighter. “Hope is this ability for us to look and see that all the things that we want illuminated or all the things that we hope are bright will actually happen for us,” she said. This cycle of brightness and hope is essential for a fulfilling life.
Living a Bright Life
Heather shared that her life feels the brightest when she is surrounded by her family. “When we’re together and we’re connected that way, my life feels very bright,” she said. Additionally, acts of reaching out and serving others bring an unbelievable brightness to her life. Connecting to a higher power also provides a sense of hope and positivity.
Living a Brighter Life
Heather shared several ways to make our lives brighter:
- Connect
Connection is vital for brightness. Heather suggested focusing on three areas: one-on-one connections, family connections, and community connections. “The holiday season is a great time for it,” she noted, as many traditions naturally incorporate these types of connections.
- Serve
Service brings gratitude and new perspectives. “The more we serve, the more grateful we are,” Heather said. Serving others enhances our empathy and connection, leading to a brighter life.
- Gather
Gathering with others, despite the effort it may require, combats loneliness and brings light into our lives. “Once we put in the energy or effort to get there to the gathering, we then make the connection and reap the rewards,” Heather explained.
- Reflect
Reflection helps us appreciate the past and illuminate the future. Heather emphasized the importance of reflecting both backward and forward. “We want to reflect forward,” she says, using past gratitude to light up our path moving forward to help us decide where we want to go and what we want to prioritize.
An Endless Cycle
Incorporating brightness into our lives involves connection, service, gathering, and reflection. As Heather beautifully put it, “The brighter we get things, the more hope we have. The more hope we have, the brighter our lives look.” Let’s strive to bring this brightness into our lives this holiday season and beyond.
To contact Heather for counseling, email blog.familyvolley@gmail.com, or visit www.familyvolley.blogspot.com.
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