Why the Name?

If you are like me, sometimes you wonder as to how a thing received its name.  For example, when I'm reading a book with a rather odd title (such as Where the Red Fern Grows), my natural instinct is to wonder how in the world the author concocted that title.  (Trust me, you'll learn if you read that book.  And you'll cry.  Or at least I did.)  Well, if you are at all similar to me and are wondering what the why's and how's are behind my blog title, allow me to enlighten you!


A small pastime (read that as a time-consuming hobby) of mine is to browse Pinterest.  I have a variety of boards, but my most favorite one would be my Favorite Quotes board! :)  I have a very fond feeling for quotes.  Isn't it something to find your very own thoughts, described by an author or poet in vibrant, flowing language that touches you just so?  It's as if they read your own mind and somehow managed to capture those elusive words to fit the feelings in in your heart.  It's like magic.  Well, one day, while scrolling through my Pinterest feed, I found this quote that just seemed to describe me so perfectly well.  Allow me to present it to you:

Does something sound a little bit familiar?  This is the quote which led to my blog title. :)  What exactly is this "light which shines from within"?  Well, I believe it's a conglomeration of a wide variety of things.  First and foremost, the light would be from my Catholic faith.  I've been raised in a family where our faith was something we lived, not something we pulled out of our closets on Sundays.  I've also been enrolled in a Catholic classical education (Mother of Divine Grace, if you're interested) my entire life, where everything I've ever learned has somehow related to my faith and has enabled me to learn more about the Catholic Church and my role in life.  Without this amazing education, I would be a vastly different person, and that scares me a little bit, to be honest.

But there's more to the light than that.  The rest builds off my faith, but there is definitely more.  For example, writing.  I love to write.  Whether it's a journal, a blog post, or a little story that will never see the light, I love to write.  Jack London once said, "Keep a notebook.  Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it.  Slap into it every stray thought that flutters into your brain.  Cheap paper is less perishable than grey matter, and lead pencil markings endure longer than than memory."  And he's so right.  How many times have I tried to awaken a memory, only to discover that it flits away out of my grasp?  But then if by chance I happened to record it, I can re-live it as many times as I so desire!

Another thing that keeps me going is music.  "Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand," said the famous Stevie Wonder.  After a long day, my instinct is to reach for my earbuds and listen to my playlists.  Music helps me to both unwind and to think more clearly. Interestingly, it also helps me to "not think."  When I just need to empty my mind, music is the first thing I turn to, because it gives me something to completely focus on.  I also play piano, and it does the same for me as listening to music, except that it also enables me to put out my feelings and emotions into music.  Another favorite quote of mine (you're in for a lot, I'm afraid) is, "Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul."  (See, this also rhymes, which makes it just that much more fabulous.)

Of course, there is so much more to me.  You can't just sum up an entire personality in a few little boxes.  However, you can gain an insight into the heart of a person by finding what makes them tick.  And these things, my faith, my writing, my music, these are what make me tick.  These are my light from within.