Everyone and everything is mockable.  Did you know that?  Every single person, animal, place, item, idea:  all mockable.  That means that everyone and everything can be sneered at, derided,  ridiculed, and criticized in ways large and small.

At the same time, everyone and everything is laudable.  Everyone and everything can be praised, exulted, magnified, enjoyed, and admired in ways large and small.

One pair of glasses sees things as small, pathetic, ridiculous, silly, stupid, and a waste of time.  The other pair of glasses sees love, beauty, goodness, greatness, skill, effort, grace, and worthiness in everyone and everything.

Let’s look at my house through both sets of spectacles.

Put on the ugly glasses and you see an ordinary, rather unkempt beige house with an unmown lawn, some broken siding, a patch of poison ivy beside the driveway, and a rather old roof that needs replacing.  It’s nothing special, it’s eminently dismissible, and in many ways, it’s pretty shabby.

Put on the love glasses and you see a mermaid palace, a home to foxes and fairies.  You notice moss growing over the stones, scarlet Japanese Maple babies sprouting up all over the front yard, a hickory standing beside a hemlock, wrens nesting over the front door, a mer-horse sheltering under the shed roof, a rock where fairies come to drink cream and nibble chocolate, and an enchanted portal into the woods.  You perceive that the whole place is alive with creative energy, hope, joy, and magic fires in which a thousand wishes have been born.

I know which glasses I’d rather wear!

Have you ever seen yourself through both pairs of glasses at the same time?  I have.

I can look through the ugly glasses (or listen to things some people have said to me) and see a weird woman with unruly hair, no husband or kids, no real job, living alone except for a cat in whom she foolishly confides.  She’s too excitable.  She’s ridiculous in her enthusiasm.  She is obsessed with fairies and Irish language and other oddities that don’t matter in the real world.  She laughs too loudly and she’s naive.

I can also look through the love glasses and see a woman in full bloom, a full moon, a fox, a mermaid, a master musician and singer, a poet, a teacher, an opener of doors and a lighter of fires.  She is full of hope and she believes in magic.  She welcomes you in and gives you tea, cookies, songs, and castle keys.

Einstein may have been thinking of these two perspectives when he said,

“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.”

Here’s what I know:  it’s magic if we say it’s magic.  It’s wonderful if we believe it is.  And if we say it’s worthless and stupid, all its value and intelligence drains away.  Things shrink as we sneer and then we live in a world of paltry, tiny things.  Things expand as we love and praise them, and then we live in a world of beautiful, radiant things.

We are often trained to wear the ugly glasses, to be skeptical, dismissive, and minimizing, especially of innovation, sincerity, effort, and risk – and that means we apply this harsh perspective not only to people “out there” in the world, but also to what we ourselves create, desire, and love.  It’s a hard way to live with very little flourishing or enjoyment.

But with practice and encouragement, we can wear the love glasses.  And I’ll tell you this:  life is a billion times more fun when we do!  We feel better, warmer, more accepting, more easy-going, safer, and altogether happier.

I’ve chosen to wear the love glasses.  I’m not perfect at this, believe me, but I do practice.  I want to look at you, dear friend, and at me through those love lenses.  (When I teach you in the Bardic Academy, you’d be amazed at the power of those love glasses.  And I help you make your own set so that you see yourself as the supernova you truly are!).

What about you?  Are you ready to put on the love glasses?  Ready to see the dancing star in your own heart and the rainbow that ends in the exact place where you now stand?

Please say yes.