Of Children and Stars
© Robin Easton - All Rights Reserved
Of Children and Stars
The song below passed through me one night when I was unable to sleep. I rose from my bed, wandered into the living room, and stood alone in silent darkness. Slowly I raised my hand and peeked through the blind. A soft gasp arose at the sight of a perfect sliver of crescent Moon and the twinkling light of Venus, two lovers hovered close together, low on the horizon.
My heart was rent wide open by such brave sweetness glowing in endless darkness. I felt as if these timeless lovers spoke to me alone. How long have they watched over us while we slept, a reminder of grace and God and all things good? Were they in love when dinosaurs roamed the earth? Did they witness my birth? Did they witness the first spark of life on Earth?
How many souls before me stood with faces tipped upward in breathless awe of those same twinkling lights? How many souls were comforted by their enduring presence? How many ancient boats were guided through dark seas? All I knew was that they tenderly watched over me, just as they watch over us all. No matter what we feel, no matter what events unfold…the great cosmos endures. Venus and Moon sit in the night sky loving us as if holding together the very fabric of The Great Mystery.
To me, the stars were old familiar friends, well-loved and remembered from the moment I could walk, so long ago. At a young age, I did some of my deepest healing while standing alone beneath the stars. Children know.
That night, as I stood at my living room window watching Venus and Moon, I felt the very origins of all things innocent and pure. Love and music flooded into me from the stars. It passed through my soul, leaving starry trails of imprinted light. Music swirled around me, until I was bathed in music. Everything I love and everything that loves me was in that music coming from the stars.
As I listened, my body swayed, and I began to twirl on the tips of my toes, around and around the room, like a small girl. I lost myself to the heavens. Suddenly, the hard tiles beneath my bare feet turned to summer’s soft green grass. My old tee-shirt turned into a flowing gown. And I turned into a child of long ago.
The music grew more and more intense. Love flooded the room on moon beams. Passionate music vibrated my soul and every plant in the room. I felt them come to life, just as I felt music begging for voice. I was intoxicated with love.
I danced my way to the piano and recorded this simple song. “Of Children and Stars.” There was no thought to any of it, there never is. I can’t read a note of music and know nothing about the piano, nor do I care. I simply feel music pass through, and my hands, like my feet, dance across the keys, and out pours love and more love. I am lost to the healing stars and gentle moon, lost to the tender arms of love, a love so great, so compassionate, it eases all suffering.
As I played the piano, a cherished memory arose.
I am a little girl, five years old. I walk alone out into the dark night to dance with stars. The entire Milky Way galaxy sweeps a vast swath across the heavens with billions upon billions of stars. I know they see me. I feel them watching me…loving me. Even as a child, I know they will heal me, guide me.
I stand with bare feet in cool grass lit with blinking fireflies, as I pour out my heart and cry to the stars that cry with me…so tenderly. I feel their compassion and empathy. They understand…me. So ancient and wise, they are eternal.
Suddenly, I hear Mama’s voice calling, and still I stand in the dark, face tipped to the stars. Finally, Mama comes looking for me. I hear her footsteps brush the grass as she approaches. She stops behind me and says, “Oh, aren’t the stars pretty, Robin? But you have to come in now, after all they’re just stars. They’ll be there another night.”
But still, I stand as I look up at my mother, and say, “They aren’t just stars, Mama. That whole big sky is God. We’re floating through God, Mama. I’m letting God heal me.”
The mother stops all movement, silent. Seconds pass, tears well in her blue eyes, eyes that are often stern and rarely cry….easily. She stands looking down at her child, as if seeing her for the first time.
Yes, Mama, I’m here. I’m a real person.
Unknown to the little girl, that night the mother wrote the child’s words in her small, black calendar-book. Years later, as the mother began her long, slow fall into dementia, she tore the words from the now yellowed pages of the little black book and gave them to her grown daughter, and said, “You were right, Robin; they aren’t just stars. Do you think when I die, I will float through God?”
This grown girl looked into her mother’s sad, blue eyes that now easily cried, and said, “Yes, Mama, I know you will float through God, and you will feel so loved, everything in you will heal. I will walk out on a dark night, look up at the twinkling stars and I will feel you. We will talk…and love each other…so close. I will always love you, Mama.”
ROBIN’S NOTES
ABOUT THIS SONG:
This song was recorded on an inexpensive handheld recorder that sits on my piano for such spontaneous moments. The music is recorded just as I played it that night for the very first time. It is rough, and at times hesitant as I listened to hear and feel the music passing through me. It is without edit, planning, or thought, merely a simple song come forth, as if from a waking dream. My piano was in need of tuning, but due to the pandemic, was without a tuner. Hence, it is with a very humble and vulnerable heart that I share this memory, “Of Children and Stars.”
ON CHILDREN:
We must never underestimate the acute awareness of our children. If we are willing to live with open hearts, curious minds, deep emotions, and be fully present in our own lives, we easily will see the same in our children. And, not only see it, but be daily inspired by their keen insights, quick wit, humor, curiosity, and awareness. If allowed, children want to show us a fresh, exciting world.
Children are not born dumb and made smart by adults. That is a tragic myth. They are born smart and tragically often forced to live ‘dumbed-down’ lives for lack of clear, strong, adult reflections, adults that see who they are and can respond in kind. I have always loved how children’s spirits ‘quicken’ in the presence of keen intelligence and awareness. After all, they are not just children. They are fully developed Souls…..with the ability to help us remember who we really are.
-© Robin Easton