There’s soooo many pieces and parts and a-hah’s coming together for me these days that it’s nigh-on impossible to pinpoint them as Step 1, Step 2 … so I’m gonna just write ’em up as I recognize a chunk. They may have come together this morning, or 6 months ago, but as other pieces fit in around them, I can see them more clearly.

(Ref for this metaphor?  Bridget Pilloud’s Voila! post  Not a Puzzle Piece but a Christmas Light.  It’s from the middle of December, 2010 so I think it qualifies as my primary catalyst …

(edit: Feb 2014: Bridget’s blog archives are no longer available, so here’s my yay!mail from her)

Not a Puzzle Piece, but a Christmas Light

Posted: 17 Dec 2010 06:03 PM PST

Yesterday, my yay! mail! system (yay! mail! so much better than email. It is email. I just shout yay! mail!) brought me this gem of a letter from Jamie Budak:

Dear Bridget,

I think most of us grow up thinking we’re puzzle pieces, and our purpose in life is to find the one and only place where we fit. And it’s scary and frustrating when you think about the billions of other puzzle pieces in the world who are doing the same thing.

What if “your place” is so far away you could never reach it? What if it doesn’t even exist because the puzzle pieces around “your place” haven’t found THEIR places yet? I remember a lot of angst during my teens and early 20s worrying about this.

Sometime last year it dawned on me that I’m not a puzzle piece. Nobody is. We’re Christmas tree lights.  We don’t just have one and only one place where we fit. Our job isn’t to fit , it’s to find a dark spot and light it up.

I’ve felt a lot better about where I am in life after getting this idea. Like, maybe where I am isn’t some pit stop on my way to where I should be. Maybe where I am is where I should be and all I really need to do is turn the light on.

I know it’s not meant just for me, but I don’t really have any way of putting it out there for people who might need the message, so I’m giving it to you so you might be able to pass it on to someone who needs it.

Thanks!   ~ Jamie Budak

Is that awesome or what?

If you want to follow Jamie on twitter, you can find her @squigglejay

Thank you again, Bridget and Jamie!

Bright Blessings ~~~