When I was 17 two teachers gathered a group of girls together for a workshop. Teen girls can be mean; the idea was that everyone had to write down something nice about every other girl in the group. We didn't volunteer for this, it was mandatory.
We went around in a circle. When a girls' turn came, a teacher picked a note from that girls bucket of notes & read it to the group. After the teacher read what was on the paper, other girls were welcome to comment, as long as they agreed with or had something else nice to say about the girl who was being appreciated.
When my turn came, the teacher pulled a paper & read "She always acts happy. But everybody knows it's fake. She needs to stop acting so happy and get real".
It took a second to realize what had been said. Another girl yelled "that's so true- she is so fake I can't stand it. Nobody can possibly be that happy. Everybody knows she's fake".
I sat frozen then ran into the bathroom. It felt like I'd been kicked so hard in the gut that I couldn't breathe. What were they talking about? What in the hell were they talking about?
One of the teachers came into the bathroom to check on me. "No, I am not OK!" I said. This was a pivotal moment in my life.
You see, I was a happy person. Despite the emotional abuse in my family and being treated like a freak at school because I was so shy and rarely spoke, I was genuinely happy most of the time. The kind of happy that comes from inside. Clearly it didn't come from anything happening on the outside.
I trusted people unless they gave me a reason not to. I assumed the best about people, even though I was raised in a family that taught us to judge harshly and be intolerant.
For a year and a half after that incident I became tough. I was as mean as I knew how to be. I became hard. I figured that if I didn't have friends while being a nice person and if people thought my happiness was fake anyway, then maybe I could make friends if I was a bitch.
It actually kind of worked. I had a social life for the first time. I got invited to parties & learned to drink. I learned to say mean things about people and to gossip. I was negative, rude, and disrespectful. I was awful. And THAT was fake.
So I went back to being me- an authentically happy and kind person. A person who's energy radiates out to the world and has a positive influence.
The energy of a lightworker is palatable. Here are some examples that happen every day:
You're walking by a place where there are a guys working in the hot afternoon sun. You know these guys must be tired and thirsty. They are quiet. They don't notice you. Some talk amongst themselves, un-aware that you are walking by. One man looks up & makes a point to smile, his energy is different from the rest of the crew. He doesn't say anything. He's a lightworker.
You're at a Rotary lunch that your boss made you attend. You don't know anyone; you take a seat at a large table. People introduce themselves, exchange business cards and talk about their companies. When the waitress comes around to take orders, half the people keep talking and ignore the waitress, others make notes or pull out their phones to check for messages. When the server reaches a particular woman, you feel a dynamic change. The woman and the waitress are genuinely engaged. The conversation between them is notably different than with everyone else at the table. That woman is fully seeing the server & there is a positive energy exchange. Lightworker.
You're at the airport with your two little kids, flying home to visit Mom & Dad. Your husband isn't there to help. You've just been told the flight is delayed. The kids are tired and you didn't pack enough snacks to hold them over. It's too far to walk to the airport's snack bar. You know the kids will burst into tears any moment. You're barely holding your emotions in check... You look up and see a custodian mopping the floor thirty feet away. He looks at you and smiles. His smile morphs into a big old grin as he acknowledges your dilemma. He sees you. He sends you some of his energy. That's all it took. Lightworker.
I had a hard time trying to sort out how being a lightworker is different from being an empath, a psychic, an energy worker. All those things are part of me, but you can be those things without being a lightworker. And you can be a lightworker without having those other abilities.
So what is it- what is the 'essence' of lightwork? It's offering your spirit, your soul's energy, your pure love of life to the world without restriction.
A lighthouse is a signal for those at sea... a lightworker is a guiding light for other souls; holding the flame and offering encouragement despite all attempts to extinguish it.
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