Unpublished Work © 2011 Cristina Carlino

on the wall… well, soon to be on my wall.   the mirror, that is, that my eight year old daughter, grace,  brought  home from her art workshop the other day in manhattan while we were on vacation there. grace could have chosen to create so many things but she picked this mirror. on the frame, beside a little smiling face,  she painted in her precious handwriting  three words  -   I LOVE U. the experience  for me of seeing that my little girl, at her young age, had created a brilliant way to say these words to herself each time she looks at her reflection, struck  me to the core with its beauty; and I told her so.  i was so proud.  grace smiled big and put the mirror carefully into my hand. “oh no, mommy”, she said.    “i didn’t make this for me. this is made especially for you! i thought you could use it. i love you.”  then she hugged me and dashed out of the room and onto her next adventure.

how did she know in that moment i was not loving myself?  so, I LOVE U  mirror,  who is the fairest of them all?  and more importantly, where did this little girl come from?  what worlds can she still see,  play in and commune with that i have long ago forgotten? how did she know i had forgotten that day to say,  i love you to myself?  more astoundingly, how could she have known the back story to this day  that makes having this particular gift so astounding?  i had never said a single word to grace about it.

for the past several months, i’ve been working hard to finish up a new journal.  it’s been the most difficult thing i’ve ever written.  the interactive journal is in part about learning to listen to our hearts.  it is for a midlife woman’s journey to loving herself. it will be our project miracle #3.  the proceeds will benefit women’s heart research.  the journal is beautifully illustrated and i am working  with an immensely  gifted designer to come up with the last illustration.  we had just spoken a few days  earlier  about what this final, most  dynamic image  might be. we thought, how about an image of a woman holding up a mirror with the words on it, I LOVE U!

albert einstein said, “the most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.”  looking in my mirror, i am so grateful for my life and for my little girl.  once again, she wanted me to see myself as she sees me with soft, loving eyes. we see ourselves and each other in our reflections. there is eternal love.    this is the  great mystery.  the original project miracle.

xxo

for more information on project miracle, please see our website, www.projectmiracle.com.

you can also explore project miracle #1, the changing room, a mother’s journal of gratitude to her little girl, on amazon.

finally, we would just LOVE for you to join project miracle #2, she colors my day, on facebook and twitter!