Defining Moments
Looking Beyond the Mirror of Life
With a rise and fall on the roller‑coaster breath of living — one day lifted into light,
one day swallowed by shadow. Paradise and suffering, braiding themselves through our days — the world becomes the mirror we dare — or fear — to face.
To look into a mirror — meeting truth unmasked:
the lines of time,
the stories etched in skin,
the echoes of choices made
and those still trembling in our bones.
But look again —
past the surface,
past the judgments,
past the ache of old narratives —
and you may glimpse
what others have seen all along:
a divine being,
loved beyond measure,
waiting to be recognized.
The one staring back can be friend or foe — the choice is ours. For the mirror does not lie — it reveals — showing us heaven or hell — creating fabled stories to cling to. Showing denied beauty — forgotten magnificence the equal.
See what I see —
for I see a soul luminous,
a heart worthy,
a being beloved.
We step into the Canvas of our reflection — knowing the Canvas of Life will echo whatever chosen colors through:
Pilgrim sees only the surface — the cracks, the flaws, the shadows.
Warrior sees deeper — into the soul’s quiet radiance, into the place where love begins.
As within, so without;
as we see, so we become.
~Ani Po
