SOMEHOW TODAY AS I SIT HERE IN MEDITATION
THE MIRROR MAKER comes to me and asks me 
to share with you her chapter.
here is 

THE MIRROR MAKER (from my book, THE MOSAIC

In the distance,
Mo saw what appeared to be
a collection of low buildings tucked into a valley.
If I quicken my pace, he thought,
I might just get there before the shops close and the streets empty.

As fate would have it, when he arrived,
all of the shops on the long windy street were closed and dark except for the one he entered,
which was open and illuminated.
It was a mirror store.

Mo had never seen anything like this before.
Everything he saw was a reflection of something else,
and it confused Mo
that when he looked at something he saw something else.
He wondered why the mirror store was the only one open,
but he had learned to trust that everything happened for a reason. 

He thought to ask The Mirror Maker about this when he saw him, but no Mirror Maker appeared.
Mo stood for a while at the front of the shop not wanting to intrude, waiting for someone to come and invite him in,
but when no one came,
he slowly started to walk around the shop.
It crossed his mind several times to call out and ask,
“Hello? Is anyone here?”
But in re-thinking it,
he decided it was better to remain quiet and not disturb anyone as he was only browsing, and he could do that quietly on his own.

The beauty of the mirrors mesmerized him,
as did the intricacies of the frames.
There were wall mirrors, standing full-length mirrors, little mirrors, modern mirrors and antique mirrors, all reflecting back what they saw,
and what he now could see:
a man who was no longer a boy.

Though Mo’s dark hair was shaggy
and his jeans stained,
the eyes that stared back at him
contained the bright flame of discovery.

The Mirror Maker watched him from the back of the shop. 
It had been a long time since a young man like this
had walked into her shop
and shown such appreciation for her work.
The Mirror Maker was happy now that she had stayed open when everyone else had gone home.
She watched as Mo walked through the aisles.
To Mo, each mirror appeared more beautiful than the one before,
and though each appealed to him in a certain way,
one in particular struck him.

As he stood and gazed into it, there was something special about it. The mirror was not made of glass as were the other mirrors in the shop, and though Mo couldn’t tell for sure,
it looked like it was made of bronze.
The Mirror Maker must have felt this mirror was special, too, as there was a bright light shining upon it,
which made the face of the mirror seem transparent.
But there was more than that.
As Mo stood looking into the mirror,
he swore it was speaking to him.

Surprised and baffled by this truly unexpected occurrence, 
he missed the first words the mirror said;
he just knew it had said something.
It was then that The Mirror Maker suddenly appeared.
“But even that was strange,” thought Mo.
For a second, Mo couldn’t tell if he was looking at The Mirror Maker or a reflection of her through a mirror.

“Welcome,” The Mirror Maker said.
“What brings you to my shop when all others have gone home?”
Mo replied, “I am a long way from my home
and an even longer way away from where I am going.
“I have been out walking the country roads for a long time and I have seen no one,
so when I saw the light from your shop
and the open door, I knew that I must enter.”

The Mirror Maker inwardly smiled.
The Wise One had told her many years ago
that there would be one
who would walk into her shop,
and she would help him see what the mirror sees.
“I see you have found a mirror you like.
What is it that you like about it?” The Mirror Maker asked.

Mo looked at her, unsure of how much to tell her.
He looked back at the mirror and the mirror spoke again,
Tell her everything, Mo,” the mirror said to him.
“The Mirror Maker has been waiting for you. 
She is here to help you.”

Mo turned to The Mirror Maker,
wanting to make sure this time she was speaking to him and not to a reflection of her, and said,
“This mirror speaks to me.”

“What does it say to you?” The Mirror Maker asked.
“It has said many things,
but at first, I was so shocked to hear it speak,
I was not able to hear its words.
But just before your question, it told me I can trust you.
And now it is speaking to me again, asking me, 
“When I look into it, what do I see?”

“And what do you see?” The Mirror Maker repeated.
“I see there are many ways to see the same thing. 
And now, when I look into the mirror,
I do not see me. I see what I think I am.”

The Mirror Maker smiled and said,
“These are the stories we tell ourselves.
They are not who we are.
Most people do not see that they are, in fact, very different from the stories they tell themselves.
Very few see only what the mirror shows them. 
What do you see?”

Mo nodded his head and said, “I see my stories, too.
I don’t know that I have ever seen anything the way it truly is.”

Suddenly, The Mirror Maker’s eyes looked at him from every mirror and said to Mo,
“It is time for that to change.
Look in the mirror now 
and see only what the mirror shows you.”

“You made up stories that were not real,
and then punished yourself for things you never even did. Those stories are destroying you.”

“Look at the mirror, Mo.
See only what it shows you.
Leave everything else in the mirror. It isn’t yours.”

“By entering my shop,
I see you have learned how to see what others cannot see. Congratulations, Mo. Very few are able to do this.
“Now focus on only seeing what is.
Sometimes the hardest thing to see
is what is right in front of you. 

What is in front of you is your purpose
and to fulfill your purpose in the world
is why we were all created,”

The Mirror Maker said as she stood in front of Mo
“I have waited a long time for you to come.
You are my connection to The Mosaic.”

Mo stared into the mirror for quite some time,
attempting to see beneath the stories he had long told himself. At last, a veil lifted.
and he was struck by a freedom he had never known.

Free from the falsehoods he created,
he saw himself for the first time.
With that, The Mirror Maker turned to leave 
and when she did, the shop and the mirrors were gone too.

Now alone in the awakening town,
Mo found himself standing on a windy street, and he wondered what his journey would bring in the twists and turns ahead.

Mo had been gone from home for a very long time.
It was hard for him to remember the boy who had first set out and how scared he had been.
He thought,
“It feels to me that I have lived 1000 different lifetimes in these past years. 
When I left,
I was searching for the place the adults called heaven
and now I am not even sure if that is a place
or something that lies just beyond what my eyes see.”

The Blind Woman told me,
“Everything you need is already right in front of you.”
“My little friend was proof of that.
Is it possible that I have found my purpose
or a new route to it?
Perhaps all this time, I have been searching
for something that is right in front of my eyes.”

“See what is,” Mo said to himself over and over again,
and then he interspersed it with, “See what you do not see.” 

As he began walking, he spoke the words like a mantra, hoping they would guide him.
It was just as he was changing the mantra again to 
“See what is” that he saw her.
She walked straight up to him and offered him a flower.

—-

If you liked this chapter and would like to read more.
you can purchase The Mosaic, by going to: 
https://themosaiconline.com/pr…/the-mosaic-book-signed-copy/
when i receive your order,
i will include a gift with your purchase of 
The BeKind2U bracelet (priced at $7.95)

Author(s)

  • Daniel Levin

    Visionary. Author. Magician. Mentor. Speaker.

    Daniel Levin walked away from an opportunity to run a billion dollar business, to hitchhike around the world to find happiness and inner peace.   His life has been a combination of incredible victories and massive defeats. He left the seminary one day before being ordained a Rabbi, and lived as a monk in a monastery for 10 years.  He has meditated every day for over 45 years. He has run a restaurant, a publishing house, a market, a meditation retreat, has owned and run a clothing company, a branding company and a coaching business.   He was the Director of Business Development at Hay House and led it’s growth from $3,000,000 to $100,000,000 in revenue over a 10 year time span.  He started DbL, by branding “the most anticipated hotel opening of the year 2013” according to USA Today, The Andaz Maui @ Wailea Resort and Spa. The book he wrote for them, The Ohana of Red Earth created a corporate culture of family not staff.   Levin is a rare blend of mystic and business guy. He is a storyteller and the beautiful story he weaves in his book, The Mosaic touches the hearts of people and soothes their souls. It is a story about loss and discovery, about seeing the things we can’t see, about knowing the value of every living thing, and about connection.   He is married to his soul mate who teaches him what it means to love and be loved. He is the father of a beautiful special needs daughter who teaches him that he is able to do far more than he ever thought possible; the step father of a handsome and fun loving teenage boy who helps him remember how powerful fear is; and a brilliant and beautiful teenage daughter who reminds him how important it is to live inside out; and #hashtag, their adorable and loving golden retriever who reminds him that life is all about play.   They live by the ocean feeling very blessed, loving others and helping people get what they want.