Big Balloon!

Saturday morning I was awakened by an unmistakable noise. I recognized it as the sound of air being blasted into a hot air balloon. It was early, before my normal 7 a.m. wake up time, so I dozed, but the sound continued. What would a hot air balloon be doing in my neighborhood? Curiosity got the best of me and I got up to take a look. Sure enough, a big brightly colored hot air balloon was floating just above the tree line behind my house. I watched as the pilot lit the fiery flare sending flames up into the giant orb. Wow!

I’m usually pretty good at interpreting messages, but this one had me stumped. I did my normal analysis of what hot air balloons represent to me. I see them as magical vessels, reminiscent of simpler times that allow people to see their world from another perspective. I imagined being in the balloon and how it must feel to rise up into the sky propelled only by blasts of hot air emitted from a flame. The adventurous curiosity it must take for a person to overcome fear and jump in, trusting that balloon, pilot and fire will each do their part to keep it aloft on the journey. All wonderful images, but I wasn’t making a connection to what’s happening in my life. I puzzled over this while I made my tea, finally deciding that maybe this time there was no message. The balloon was just that, and nothing more.

I sat down at my kitchen table with my cup and grabbed a catalog from the stack of mail. I opened it and inside the front cover was a big advertisement for a TV and on the screen was big hot air balloon floating above a beautiful landscape! OK spirit, I get the picture. This is a message and a big one. But what?

I have an altar on a small table in my house. When I’m home, I light a candle in the morning and let it burn all day. The candle has burned too far down in the glass holder to use a match, so I decided to use an electric lighter. I grabbed the lighter, pulled the trigger button and the hot, fiery flame shot out making the same sound as the hot air balloon! Within thirty minutes, I had received three undeniable signs.

So now I get it. It’s about the flame. In the case of the balloon, the fire releases hot air which allows it to defy the laws of gravity and rise up; giving its’ passengers a higher perspective of the world. But the balloon also has meaning to those on the ground, who look up in awe as it floats peacefully along, fueled only by a single determined and purposeful flame.

Fire is available to all who seek to light it. All that’s needed is the drive and passion to strike the match and keep the flame burning.

Next weekend my flame will be burning bright as I fly to NYC for a writer’s conference, where I will be pitching several literary agents. If I were to believe what’s written about how hard it is to get published, I’d stay home. But I know there is a higher plan unfolding and that my encounter with the hot air balloon is a message from spirit.

The message is clear. My guides aren't asking me to be the balloon or the pilot, I just need to be the flame! If I keep my fire burning, the universe will take care of the rest.

© Maria Hart 2016

#messages