As there are no accidents, I’ll share with you an event that occurred during the final, “transition” phase of this birthing process. A dear and deeply beautiful friend gave me a book inscribed with these words: “Susan, your vulnerability, not your light, is your most attractive quality. All people give off light. Vulnerable people also let light in.” This book is about vulnerability and it’s about grace.
I’m vulnerable. I admit it, but I never wanted to be. In fact, if you’d asked me to list the qualities that I’d like to manifest, vulnerable wouldn’t have been in the top 100,000 descriptors. I resisted it, cursed it, and cloaked it with veils of illusion and layers of artifice. I wanted to be strong and longed to be powerful (I’m a Leo, you know). So for a long time I regarded my vulnerability as a curse, a character flaw, and an obstacle to true spirituality and growth. Yet, I realize now that it has been my greatest gift and most precious teacher. The teachings contained in this volume issue from the context of my vulnerability, my struggle to be authentic, and my deep desire for personal and collective healing.
This book began in a cottage in Gallisteo, New Mexico while I was on a spiritual retreat. On my first night in this beautiful village, I awoke shortly after midnight. Gazing through the skylight on that crystal-clear January night, my heart began to race with expectancy and I reached for my journal to record my sense of wonder. As I began to write, I heard the words “Little One” whispered softly, tenderly, as though addressing one who is dearly beloved, and words of grace began to flow onto the pages of my journal.
The Little One Diaries represents a compilation of the teachings that I began to receive that night. They issue from the context of my very ordinary life and represent my struggle with all manner of human frailty and frustration, illness and illusion. Yet always, in every moment, the message is clear: Grace abounds.
I offer these words to you, not as absolute truth, but rather to share with you the grace of my journey and to bless you as you travel your own path of Truth. I have come to understand that direct spiritual guidance is continually available to each of us, moment by moment, and that we are never alone, despite whatever current illusion may be playing. The goal of this volume is to encourage you to establish your own direct communication channel, to trust the guidance that you receive, and to open your heart to the still, small voice calling to you: “Psst, Little One…”
Be love. Be loved. Beloved.
Susan Gallaher
