(photo from Christopher Marley exhibit, Exquisite Creatures)
I was walking through a wooded area, just as the sun was dipping under the horizon line, the sky turning a deeper darker blue, bushes along the trail blending into shadow shapes when I saw the sparkle of moving floating lights. Fireflies! As a livelong Californian one of my wishes for this trip to the East Coast in late Summer was to see fireflies. I was aware that they are becoming more rare and wondered if I would get their blessing this time. As I stood still, my hands clasped in front of my heart (which I still tend to do when I am happy and excited, like the 5 year old I used to be) these magical beings lit up - here, there, flashing light green from within their bodies.
The moment held still. All I wanted to do was stay and watch their light language sing into the dusk. They seemed like the embodiment of wishes and magic. For me in that moment in my life, it also felt like the Wild Spirit had heard me wishing and answered, yes. I too felt like I was glowing with happiness, an energy of lifeforce charged and open.
How does it feel when you are fully present to joy? Think of a time when you were so thrilled or in awe of something happening around you that you felt charged with aliveness. Can you remember that energy in your body? These moments are potent, perhaps especially when they take us by surprise. A sudden gift from creation, only here for a moment so you must give it your full attention now.
This morning I led a short meditation practice I called Following Fireflies. We aligned ourselves with our center lines, grounding down into earth and then up into sky. From that stable place, we allowed ourselves to feel expansion in all directions. Then we focused on calling into our minds, bodies, hearts, things that bring us great joy. Recalling every detail, our bodies could feel that joy present with us. This internal chemistry of attention, joy, and opening brought a light to each of the participants’ faces and I imagine shifted each of our days, if only a little bit. Permission to feel and remember joy as an inner resource is important.
Did you know that when you allow yourself to give in to joy you glow? Like a child’s face lit up with wonder, you have that same full-hearted shine within you. I have been blessed to see people in difficult situations still soften instantaneously into a bright smile when they saw something beautiful and unexpected.
Fireflies are bioluminescent; they make their own light through a chemical reaction within their abdomens. Their light is known as the most efficient light in the world with 100% of its energy emitted as light. Each firefly can have different hues of light and produce their own unique patterns of flashing. Sometimes they choose to synchronize their flashing with others, sometimes keeping to their own rhythm.
Like Fireflies, we actually generate the energy for our joyful expression from within ourselves. Engaging with the world around us, noticing, and shining our excitement out is an inside job. It is a choice we can return to again and again. Some catalyst from deep in our bellies is ready to come out radiant if we meet it with attention.
I have someone I love in my life who no matter how much I try to bring beauty, she cannot seem to let the joy in or out. She has been a great teacher. It is as though each moment of happiness is skipped over and she returns to bitterness and want. I have seen over the years how much I long to give her joy, as though it is a gift I can bestow. Here a chocolate bar, here a bouquet of fresh flowers, here a phone call or a compliment or a funny story. I have seen too how I stop trying and withdraw my own happiness in her presence, sometimes becoming mired in the feeling of lack, always hungry for something else. Our mind can refuse happiness by always casting about for somewhere else, some moment other than this one, some loss already felt or presumed to come.
Sometimes we struggle. And still, all around us are wonders. It is up to us to notice and let the delight come deep down and in until it bubbles out, back into the world. And to remember how beauty has visited and sustained us. Beauty is as real and present as the horrors. We can take time to notice it, feed it, expand into it.
Our joy is a beacon for what we want and need. Our unbridled happiness and capacity to recognize and celebrate the wonder of our life, shapes our life as much as any effort or strategic planning or willpower. Joy is a magnet and an energy source. It is also a gift we give others and a gratitude we offer Spirit.
Joy opens the way. The dopamine produced during playful curiosity and awe helps us make changes by deepening our ability to absorb and retain memories. In this state we are able to think creatively and imagine new paths. And we can rest and receive nourishment so we can continue on.
Pay at least as much attention to what brings you joy as what causes you troubles.
Fireflies control the stop and start of their flashing by allowing a chemical reaction to occur. This chemical reaction requires oxygen to be channeled to their inner light producing cells. I think of this channeling of oxygen as a mirror for our channeling of attention.
Are you taking in enough fresh air so that you can be surprised into joy?
Are you letting the wonder around you in so that it can spark something in you?
Are you letting it out into the world through your expressive body and voice?
Breathe in deeply. Recall the most beautiful thing you have ever seen, every detail. Make even more room in your heart for this remembered moment. Feel the wonder of it all over again. Say YES to your inner bright combustion.
Your spontaneous, unbound joy is a call to the rest of creation. In mindful companionship with the Sacred Wild this week, seek out expressions of joy. How are different beings expressing delight? Look for the other lights sparkling in the woods, other beings’ joys lighting the world around you.
Embody This
We spend so much time trying to contain our bodies. But joy asks us to bubble up and spill over. It is uncontained energy that radiates out into the space around us. So let’s practice radiating out!
Let yourself stand comfortably; nothing special, just soft knees, feet relaxed into the ground. (you can choose to have some music you like playing or not) Begin wiggling your fingers. Just little shimmering wiggles with your fingertips as though you are tickling the air. Then let those wiggles get bigger so your whole arms get involved. Keep the movements small, like shivering or as though you are shaking water off of your fur.
Let your wiggles move into your hips, shaking your bottom. Maybe lift a foot and wiggle a leg. Shiver your way up your spine. Imagine you are discharging energy to make room for more. Also just let it be silly. You may find yourself smiling or laughing.
Bring your wiggling all the way up your neck into your head. Blow your lips so they vibrate and make noises. Let energy spill out, unrestrained.
When you feel complete with these movements today, stand quietly for a bit. Does it feel like you made space for something? Notice how your energy has changed. What are you ready to say YES to now?
Stoke your creative fires with us this Summer!
Join Melissa Fritchle and Michele Walker on this beautiful four-week online offering to deepen your connection to your Muse, body, intuition, and creativity.
Thursdays @ 12:00pm-2:00pm PDT
July30-August 20, 2026
Art expression is a powerful way to locate and listen to parts often hidden, subtle, or rejected by Modernity - like our Intuitive Self. Art expression is a tangible way to be in conversation with your inner knowing while making the unseen visible.
Join us for an experiential journey over 4 weeks of a full moon cycle, of Living Your Muse: Co-Creating with Intuition. Together we will stoke the fires of our creativity with drawing, expressive writing, photography and movement. Small creative practices will be woven throughout your week in between our meetings so that you stay in the co-creation.
Held within Intimate with the Moon & Soil on Mighty Networks, the experience will include a private group page for sharing our creations and thoughts, as well as recordings of sessions you miss. Attendance in person is important though, so plan to be present with us as often as possible. No art experience necessary - this is about tapping into the innate creativity within you.