Mary Jane Knight is a music artist and vocal empowerment guide. With a background in opera and education, she’s known for using the human voice as a transformative tool—for connection, empowerment, and emotional release. Her debut solo album, Rising Free: a journey of healing, has been praised as “raw, heartfelt, and hopeful” (EARMILK), offering “a profound message of self-discovery and emotional release” (Rival Magazine). She sends a heartfelt and intentional newsletter once a month, designed to uplift and inspire. Words from her heart, straight to your inbox. Receive a free song mediation gift when you subscribe.
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The Light We Cannot See
Published 14 days ago • 5 min read
Dear friend💜,
As I sit and write this, Iowa is being covered by a thick blanket of white for the first time this winter. Sometimes it comes fast and furious with high winds and treacherous visibility. Today, it is gentle but steady. We maybe have half a foot by now, and by tomorrow it may double in depth.
My brilliant, scientific son told me last night that although frozen water is clear, snow looks white to us because the beautifully unique crystals refract all the colors of light in so many different ways that the refraction combines into brilliant white.
Just think—snow surrounds us with infinite rainbows that our eyes can't comprehend. No wonder it feels magical, and no wonder spiritual references to the divine often describe the color as brilliant, blinding white light.
What a metaphor for life! The colors of beauty are everywhere, but so often they feel hidden behind a veil. That’s why this month’s visible auroras felt like such a miraculous event. Suddenly, colors that are usually hidden from most of us became visible for ALL to see, giving us a powerful glimpse into the magic of our world.
Image by Elias Marlowe
I loved seeing all the images like this one that looked like angels, wings, and doves. It was as if, for one night, the angels were given permission to appear to us in a color we could comprehend and see with the naked eye. It reminded me of the poem I shared a few months ago, “I Am the Light.” Since then, I’ve composed a song to that poem, and here is a taste of the beginning, which came to me in my dreams:
And then waking up to snow started me reflecting on another poem I wrote about this white stuff. I remember writing it on a brilliantly beautiful, frigid, sunny morning after we had gotten over a foot of snow. As I sat looking out, I saw a sun dog—a rainbow halo on either side of the sun. I’ve only seen a couple in my life.
When I write poems, I usually have no idea what will come to me, and with this one, the ending arrived like a present:
“Our body
a prism of beauty
for the world.” — from Snow
I LOVE thinking about this! It’s up to us not only to slow down and take the time to see the beauty around us, but also to remember that our very lives refract the light into divine colors the world can see and comprehend. We ARE the beauty the world desperately needs.
I feel very strongly that we are each called to share love and beauty with the world. It is our human mission. Divine entities, although powerful, cannot manifest change in this physical world without our help.
From the back cover of my new book!
I guess that’s why my new book of healing spiritual poetry is really my own wrestling with this call—my journey through the darkness into the light. To truly share our brilliant light, we first have to face the darkness within. It reminds me of how so many near-death experiences describe traveling through a dark, narrow tunnel into a radiant light. But we don't have to wait until death for that revelation. The unseen light is already here, surrounding us, waiting for us to notice.
In the process of publishing my book, I met a wonderful writer in Iowa City who has published four books about the intersection of spirituality and travel. Lori Erickson’s books Holy Rover, Near the Exit, The Soul of the Family Tree, and Every Step Is Home are wonderfully accessible and fascinating journeys through her faith and travels to holy places around the world. She was so kind to read my new book and write this endorsement:
“Mary Jane Knight’s poems arise from a deep well of lived experience—grief, joy, healing, and the steady discovery of light within. Written with a musician’s ear and a seeker’s heart, they reveal how beauty can emerge from brokenness and how spiritual growth is not an escape from suffering, but a transformation through it.”
Somewhere between Christmas morning as a kid and holding my babies for the first time (minus the physical exhaustion and pain!) is how I felt holding the very first copy of my very first book this month—both tears and pure joy.
A sort of companion to my album of my musical journey of healing, The Light Between the Lines is my soul’s journey on paper. The writing is simple and super accessible, yet deep and thoughtful. Many of the poems inspired my songs, and just a few of them are the text to a song. I think it’s a lovely reflective book you can pick up and read one poem at a time for inspiration. (It might make a great gift for a friend, too!)
I didn’t paint the cover art for this purpose—one day this summer, my youngest (a true visual artist) and I got out the acrylics. I decided to just start painting (the way I write poems) and see what would manifest itself. This messy piece found its way to me. I love how it embodies the idea that beauty can also be messy, and that our hearts create the light within us that shines forth. 💜
I had always thought my book would have some kind of non-digital art on the front, but it took me a while to realize the art already existed.
I have a book release event lined up at our local bookstore Prairie Lights on Feb. 15th, which is when I will release the book to be distributed world-wide on sites like Amazon. But before that, it is available exclusively on my website and I would love to sign and ship your copy this week!
This fall, I went out into the woods about an hour before dusk and read my book into my mic accompanied by the crickets and birds and used that to create an audiobook. As promised, here is the mp3 you can download!
I think you will find it meditative, hopefully inspirational, and if nothing else, a peaceful voice to listen to as you drift to sleep.
I also wanted to create a gift of music for you this season and be with you live, so I am streaming a free online concert on the longest night of the year. I will share my original music from Rising Free and new songs that remind us we hold the light within our own hearts. On Dec. 21st at 8pm CT, I will go live on Facebook, but anyone who is not on Facebook will still be able to watch with the link below!
The holiday season can be filled with so much joy and so much grief. No matter what emotion is filling your heart right now, know that I am with you and sending lots and lots of light and love to you this day and always💜🔥,
Saturday Jan. 3rd: 6pm-Sing Along Christmas Party @ Knights
Sunday Feb. 15th: 5pm-Singing Playground Class
Sunday March 29th: 5pm-Singing Playground Class
Sunday April 26th: 5pm-Singing Playground Class
Sunday May 3rd: 7pm-Studio Concert @ Riverside
Hope to see you on Dec. 7th at Riverside and at my home on Saturday Jan. 3rd for our annual holiday party!
Also I will be reaching out to those who have already taken a beginning singing class as I would like to offer a second series in continuation when it works in folks schedules. Go ahead and reply to me if you are interested!
And as always, please reach out with any questions!
Mary Jane Knight is a music artist and vocal empowerment guide. With a background in opera and education, she’s known for using the human voice as a transformative tool—for connection, empowerment, and emotional release. Her debut solo album, Rising Free: a journey of healing, has been praised as “raw, heartfelt, and hopeful” (EARMILK), offering “a profound message of self-discovery and emotional release” (Rival Magazine). She sends a heartfelt and intentional newsletter once a month, designed to uplift and inspire. Words from her heart, straight to your inbox. Receive a free song mediation gift when you subscribe.
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