Cinderella in Focus: Cindy’s Secret

H.L. Balcomb

Cinderella In Focus…same beloved fairy tale, new perspective…focus…that teaches Cindy how to be her own kind of brave.

Deep inside each woman’s heart, resides three keys of possibility. Each key holds the power to positively touch the world, starting with her own world first, through their gifts of…

Individuality

Creativity

Awareness

To become enlightened, means to consciously open each key and to follow the story that resides within each key’s possibility.

Each key is a story of hope when you’re feeling hopeless.

A contemporary fairy tale offering a new vocabulary to rethink the concept of self-actualization within all seasons of life…by pulling from both ancient and contemporary wisdom – to think less and to live more abundantly in the reality of your moment’s now: peace or chaos interchangeably, peacefully.

Mom’s Letter One:  May 26, 2017

Dear Cindy,

I feel it…my time is quickly running out. I feel the desire in my heart to spend all my time with you…to absorb every second of every moment of time with you and to turn it into a memory that I will carry indefinitely in my heart.

Yet, I am slowly coming to the realization that my wish is limited at best. Then again, if given the chance, I don’t think there will ever be enough time to compensate for my longing heart’s desire to leave time as it is – right now. Perfection.

For you see, when you love someone there will never be enough time because time can never adequately capture the arch of love’s ability to touch the deepest parts of our soul. And so, I have come to the realization that if I can’t rewrite history, I must use my remaining time wisely –purposefully.

Consequently, I’m writing these letters to you because I will be sharing with you some of the life lessons that I have learned along the way.

I really believe that life wants us to understand the inner workings of our own soul first before we can start to understand the external mysteries of the world outside of our world.

Therefore, I’ll be sharing with you the gift of the invisible crown. The sole purpose of this crown is to re-teach us to think less and to live more…much like children naturally do.

And one can only think less and live more when you’re operating from a space that celebrates your unabridged individuality.

These lessons have served me well during my lifetime, and they tie into the greatness that resides within us…the ART in US.

Take from these lessons what you need in the moment and share with others what you have learned along the way. I leave it up to your goodness of character to find your own path because contrary to what life naturally teaches us — you are already your life’s purpose. You don’t need to find it.

At the same time, whenever lost, let your invisible crown lead you back on your life’s path again. Remember, getting lost is just part of living life in High Definition (HD).

And so, my dear child, come with me on a journey into the depths of my own heart as you use your curiosity as a key to unlock your personal possibility.

I may not have all of the answers to the world’s secrets, yet I know one thing and that is that the eighth wonder of the world remains a woman who embraces all pieces of herself.

Her light as much as the darkness because she realizes that she doesn’t have to be perfect or flawed to be wholesomely herself.  She just needs to be honest with herself because that is where her unedited self resides…a space of untapped potential.

And that all starts with her knowledge of chaos…life’s greatest point of entry.

Love,

Mom

How to read this novel?

No one ever tells you that when you become a mother, however that may manifest within the context of your life, you inherit a fear handed down from mother-to-mother, generation-to-generation. It’s the same fear that all mothers carry — regardless of her child or children’s ages. It’s the fear that our child will be jeopardized in some way because of our death. It’s the fear that we won’t be there for our child when they need support, understanding, and love — the most.

It is within that truth that CINDERELLA IN FOCUS was created. In this contemporary fairy tale, Cinderella’s mother understands that her death is imminent. The reality of life can’t be changed, yet her mother also understands that she, in her mothering wisdom, can use the little time she has left to help to give her daughter a gift that may be of use to her when she needs it the most.

The gift is the story of the invisible crown, a crown that we all share. A crown that operates from the premise: To love wholeheartedly is to live abundantly.  It is a crown that is directly connected to our hearts, a space where the wisdom of our truest identity resides. Yet, for many of us, somewhere in our journey toward adulthood, we have forgotten the value of this gift’s worth because this gift is directly connected to how we speak to ourselves, a space we commonly refer to as — self-worth.

And the only way to access this space is through the quality of our communications.  In fact, when we elevate our communication, we elevate all outcomes of our life, starting with our heart – how we speak to the life both around and within us.

Cindy’s mom understands that it is important to share what she has learned throughout her lifetime with her daughter through a series of letters that she marks at Letters One, Two, Three etc. In the second half of the novel, she calls them Gem One, Gem Two, Gem Three etc. These letters unlock the secrets behind the first key of enlightenment called: our creativity.

At the same time, Cindy’s mom understands that her letters are only one key to unlocking the puzzle of our Higher Self, the self of endless opportunity. The self referred to within the realm of positive psychology as self-actualization.

Therefore, once again in her mothering wisdom, she seeks the help of her husband, Cindy’s father, a college professor, to help to bring her words to life through his own parenting wisdom. These diary entries unlock the secrets behind the second key of enlightenment called: our individuality.

The father’s perspective is denoted through the experiences recorded in Cindy’s journal, and they appear as three asterisks at the top of each page. It is through Cindy’s story that we gain a deeper understanding of her father’s own bereavement struggles and challenges after the mother’s passing, as he tries to create a new layer of normality from the broken shards of his heart’s ashes in a very authentic and vulnerable way. 

Cinderella’s mother understands that the greater the collection of viewpoints, the clearer the purpose of the invisible crown will be. Consequently, she rewrites the classic Cinderella fairy tale to include a story based around the power of one’s invisible crown and without a Prince Charming to save her or a fairy godmother to complete her. This story is set back in 1834. And it is proof to her daughter that the powers of one’s invisible crown aren’t tied to context or to time; they are ageless pieces of advice that we can use today and possibly into eternity. Thus, this is a story of how to find hope when you’re feeling hopeless. These letters unlock the secrets behind the third key of enlightenment called: our awareness.

You might be wondering: “Do you have to be a mother to enjoy this story?”

No. This is a story for and about our times. We are all mothering in a new generation of daughters through our life’s work may it be being a teacher, an aunt, or a friend to someone younger than ourselves.

Additionally, so many stories of female empowerment exclude, they are specifically geared toward a specific target audience. However, the uniqueness of this story is that it speaks to all female hearts because the one commonality that we all share is that we will all go through a “Cinderella moment” at some point in our life’s story. And by “Cinderella moment,” I mean creating something positive out of the ashes of the moment’s despair.

Our invisible crown holds the power to achieve that since it is broad enough to appeal to all female energy, yet we hold the power to customize it to our own liking as our life changes with the ebb and flow of our life’s greater story.

CINDERELLA IN FOCUS teaches us how to be our own kind of brave in all seasons of this earthly journey by using our limitless creativity, unedited individuality, and through the power of our awareness — to try – now’s gift – along with knowledge of how to use the ashes of the moment’s despair to create a space between our disjointed overthinking to allow for a shift in ultimately our thoughts and feelings, especially when we’re going through uninspiring chapters or moments of this adventure called life.

We are created for a time as this…Cindy’s Secret.

Do not read the novel in random sections; instead, read it  in a chronological order to gain the greatest depth of understanding from its contemporary, ancient wisdom.

Important terms that define the novel’s meaning:

• Self-actualization: Self-actualization is truly a three-part connection: We have to understand it, feel it, and then live it through its practical application — it’s a living, breathing, daily-adapting commitment of awareness.
• Culture: The culture that we spend the most time in is the greatest external force on our development of self. In fact, our culture is the first language that we learn to speak through its stated, implied, and rewards-driven forces.
• Self-worth: Our sense of self-worth is the greatest internal force on the development of our self. It guides the greatest gifts life has entrusted us with: our individuality, our creativity, and our ability – to try, inspired largely by our personal curiosity.
• Invisible crown: Our invisible crown is the richest part of our unedited individuality. It’s the part of us that moves mountains, starting with our own heart. 

 HLBalcomb.com

Hermy Author Facebook

*** Cindy’s Journal…

And that is where my story starts…

With a single letter that I found in a stack of letters all safely housed inside an old shoe box. I was gifted these letters on the one-year anniversary of my mom’s passing.

On that heartfelt night, after dinner with my father, he handed me the box, and simply stated, “Your mom wanted you to have this. I don’t know what is inside, but I do know is that she wanted to ensure that you learn about spiritually. You know what she always said…”

“Spirituality is just another word for our individuality,” I answered.

“Exactly,” my father stated while adjusting his glasses on his face.

I could instantly sense that there was more to his story, so there I stood with an old shoe box under my arm – listening to him under the backdrop of night, standing outside the restaurant…

“We had always hoped for a large family, yet we were over the moon with your birth. That’s why your mom wanted to call you Cindy, short for Cinderella.” My father stopped speaking to take off his glasses and to wipe the developing tears from his eyes.

“Your name,” he said, “stems from a human story as old as time itself.”

Although I had already heard this particular story a million times before, I listened.

“A version of the Cinderella story can be found in almost all cultures of the world,” he explained, somewhat going into his professor tempo of speaking. For you see, my father is a professor of English, and the act of studying stories, especially the Cinderella story, is what has always brought him the greatest pleasure.

“I would love to hear more about that, Dad. It’s getting late though, how about we save that for next week?” I suggested.

Truth be told, I just wanted to get home and open the box.

And therein, I found a version of the Cinderella story that combined my father’s passion for this story’s unique message of strength along with the embodiment of my mom’s practicality in a guide that only a mother’s love could create, as her last symbol of unconditional love…

A narrative that’s built around the notion that… “You can’t live an extraordinary life with an ordinary mindset.”

Words scribbled with a permanent marker on the outside of the box’s cover. A thesis statement of sorts that came to life in her next letter when I finally understood the function of chaos’s gift in relation to our life’s potential…

Letter Two: Chaos, A Point of Entry, May 28, 2017

Whenever you feel like your life is in a state of complete chaos, I hope that you re-read this letter often because chaos remains one of the most misunderstood gifts of higher thinking.

If we mature not by age, but by stories…chaos is best described through two revolutionary perspectives by means of these poetic words.

Ninetieth philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said: “You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.”

Yet, The I Ching, one of the oldest collections of classic ancient wisdom describes chaos through these words: “Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be Chaos.”

For me, chaos is that place in our existence that offers us a reflection opportunity, a chance to ponder, especially when it feels as if our life isn’t moving in any meaningful direction, in essence, when we feel as if we are going nowhere.

The gift in nowhere is that it is telling us that nowhere is really composed of two words: now here. And now here simply means a point of entry by using the moment’s chaos to create a pathway for a miracle’s passage through our acknowledgement of now’s reality.

By acknowledging now’s reality, we naturally make space for life’s fullness to enter the context of our life – yet, on its own time schedule.

Most importantly, since life works on a higher frequency, ART, it awaits our invite because it will NEVER force itself on us.

Therefore, it merely awaits our acknowledgement, and that is often enough to allow for a shift of thinking to happen within our own HEART, which is just another name for our life’s greatest ART.

It’s no coincidence that HEART and ART stem from the same root. Life is directing us toward a higher plane of thinking when we see chaos for what it is – a point of entry, nothing more and nothing less than that wonderful gift.

A point that allows for life’s fullness to enter by understanding that life will send a lot of stardust our way, it is our job to find the stars among the stardust.

And chaos remains a great tool of higher thinking when we use it for what it was created for – a point of entry when we realize that an open mind will lead to a deeper connection of the heart.

Indeed, HEART and ART will forever remain synonymous terms of empowerment since they both pass through the same point of entry that all brilliance passes through namely: CHAOS.

The gift of now’s acknowledgement…

Mom

*** A week later, I met my father at the same restaurant, really, it’s more of a family diner without the label.

Over coffee and apple pie, we discussed the mysterious shoe box, and its contents.

“’Have you opened it?” he asked, as his lead-in question.

“Yes, I have,” I answered, slowly stirring my coffee, “and I have only been able to read the first two letters.”

“Letters?”

“Yes, short letters with life lessons – all based around the theme of spirituality,” I stated. “Mom’s style…”

He only smiled back in response. It wasn’t long before he added, “What’s the first two about?”

I had heard through the grapevine, my aunt, that he had a particularly hard week behind him. He was missing my mom terribly, and he was finding the finality of death an unforgiving concept to make any sense of. Somehow, he couldn’t turn the notion of death into anything meaningful, which is his way of saying – turning it into something academic.

“Well,” I elaborated, “the first letter was more of a welcoming invite, and it showcased her reasoning for writing the letters.”

“And the second?”

“Well, that one was more about the purpose of chaos within the context of reality,” I stated.

“Chaos?”

“Yes, chaos, according to mom, even chaos has its place within the story of life.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it’s fitting to start at the bottom, rock-bottom, right?” I stated.

“Yes,” he answered, staring at his coffee aimlessly. “I have had a really hard week,” he confessed.

“I know, I heard,” I answered. “Look dad, I may be out of the house, yet I’m kept up-to-date through aunt’s text messages. She really cares about you – just like me.”

He looked somewhat embarrassed. His physical appears was disheveled, his stubble was coming in in all shades of gray. His hair looked wild and overgrown, and he looked as if he hadn’t slept well in days.

Lovingly, I placed my hand on top of his, “It’s hard on all of us. There is no shame in confessing our struggles. If anything, I think it helps us not to feel alone.”

My father looked directly into my eyes and added, “You remind me so much of your beautiful mother. You’re even starting to look like her, but what I’m most impressed by is your sense of wisdom that seems to stem from another world.” And then, he added, “What did mom say about chaos’s function?”

“It’s a point of entry through our conscious awareness of now.”

“A point of honesty,” he wiped a tear from behind his glasses.

“A point of entry that allows for life’s fullness of expression to pass through when we acknowledge the truth of the moment,” I answered.

“Death sucks,” he elaborated. “I really miss her – now more than ever before.”

“Yes,” I agreed, “for me, what I miss most about her is that she always had a way of encouraging one even when you had the worst of days. Now, I don’t have that…”

“Maybe you do,” he stated. “Your mom’s letters remind me of the Chinese version of Cinderella.”

“Yeh-Shen?”

“Yes,” he answered, “Yeh-Shen, the Chinese name for Cinderella. You know, it surpassed our Western version of this story by a millennium.  And Yeh-Shen’s best friend was a giant fish, which was actually her mother’s spirit.”

“My mother’s spirit…”

“Yes, your mother’s spirit is contained inside that shoe box. And much like Yeh-Shen’s mother, she, too, is guiding you with her wisdom inspired by life before death.” It was the first time in a long time that my father suddenly looked alive. For a moment, I saw unedited life beaming from his eyes again.

“Let her guide you,” he stated, “maybe your wisdom will help to guide me, too? Just like it has done today!”

“How?”

“By acknowledging that chaos is only a point of entry, and it’s not a death sentence,” he confessed.

“’Life will send a lot of stardust our way, it is our job to find the stars among the stardust.’ It comes directly from her letter – powerful, right?”

He nodded his head, and that’s when he started to cry inside the safely of his cupped hands.

The server approached us to refill our coffees, yet she abruptly left us when she saw his pain. She intuitively knew that we needed our space – space to be in the rawness of the moment without disturbances from outside sources.

“It’s alright, daddy, cry…” I encouraged him. 

And that’s how our weekly meeting ended.

Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant, and I headed straight for my unnamed box of possibility, as I pulled out the third letter to learn about the power of our conscious intentions in bringing about a sense of balance to our life’s story.

Letter Three: Intentions, A Dandelion Flower, May 30, 2017

At the same time, since life is a place as much as a state of abundance, it has inspired each human heart with intentions.

A single intention is simply defined as the ability to ignite a sense of passion within our being.

If you look at intentions within the context of evoking the ART within US, it is simply a spark of conscious possibility. Mindful options – that’s all.

A state of being that could potentially allow for life’s fullness to enter into the framework of our lives, may that be physically or metaphysically.

Yet it all starts with an idea…

The great Roman Emperor Marcus Arulieus described this notion as: “The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.”

Intentions simply mean that when we consciously elevate the quality of our communication, we consciously elevate the quality of our life’s outcomes, a simple choice with an unlimited number of outcomes…..[end]

Copyright: HLBalcomb.com

Dear Reader, I kindly ask of you to be respectful. This excerpt represents 15-years of research and professional exploration of key concepts and topics. Please be mindful and feel free to share with credit extended to the source. 

Thank you,

Hermy

HLBalcomb.com 

With the global pandemic, the publication date has been moved to Mother’s Day, May 13th, formats available — hard cover and electronic.  Thank you for understanding and for your continued support, keep pollinating the world with your kindness.