The Well of Light Beckons

Happy Summer Solstice here in the US!

The celebration of this day ushered me into musing about light. The longest, lightest day of the year where I live. I want it to stay. I love the runway up to it and relish every extra minute of light along the way, the morning light shining in and the lingering sun well into the evening. It is a day of the year I savor.

 

A couple of posts ago I wrote about space, an initial focus on how important physical space is to me on so many levels. As I began to dip into light, I realized that it is, for me, deeply intertwined with space, both physical space and light and internal space and light.

 

The wells are still new to me and the more I come to them, the more I draw from them, the more I carry with me wherever I am and wherever I am going, the stronger I feel and the more I want to let them sustain me over and over and over again.

 

Always, when I continue dipping to explore a word/a well and the many facets of it, I am reminded, viscerally at times, that taking any of these wells for granted is doing myself a disservice. In this wild world of ours I want to stop and be with these words and ways of being that sustain, nourish, refresh and give me energy to keep living in them, understanding their place in my life and in the world.

 

As far back as I can remember I have never been a fan of the dark, even though now in my 70s I have learned to lean into it with far more comfort, and even gratefulness, than in earlier decades. Even with that, it is always light that pulls me the strongest and that I long for most.

 

So here I am at the Well of Light to explore what it is offering up to me and to share that with you, to pour a bit from my dipper into yours and also know that what the light offers up to you might be different. There is no template.

 

We use this word often and take it so for granted.

 

It is more than one piece of writing so I choose for this one to touch on physical light. I’d love your thoughts and invite you to feel free to contribute them. An intention is for this blog to become a place of dialogue, with me and with other readers.

 

So…

 

I began simply acknowledging physical lights I drew up:

 

Sun, moon, stars, nature’s light, natural light, the light coming in through the photo and at this moment as I face the same window at the same time of day. I stop to notice it…the patterns, reflection, shadows, and how it changes as the sun changes position…which makes me think of the light of a brilliant sunset before it fades or sunrise as a new day arrives…the full moon…and the variations of light according to clouds and storms. Light puts on a mesmerizing show at times. It stops us in our tracks and yet much of the time we simply take it for granted.

 

Electricity/light bulbs that upon the invention changed life.

 

Flashlights, car headlights, candles, lanterns, headlamps, streetlights, nightlights, fog lights, lighthouses, emergency vehicle lights.

 

Spotlights and how the lights come up or down in theaters and concert halls.

 

Lights as spaces of safety, comfort, company, energy.

 

All levels of light – too bright, not enough, just right – like Goldilocks – and how dimmer switches were invented to adjust at will and perhaps even over the course of a dinner the level of light. It’s interesting that they are called “dimmer” switches rather than “brightener” switches, assuming that we want to turn the brightness down, perhaps “dim” being associated with “atmosphere.”

 

There are the effects felt physically and emotionally that connect to light…safety, anticipation at the beginning and perhaps sadness at the end as lights dim or come up in a concert hall or theater, community sharing as in passing light from one candle to another at a service or a vigil, physical light as comfort, as need, as relief, as energizing and so much more. Feel free to add.

 

We speak of some of these physical lights in other ways…shining a spotlight on an issue,” it was like a light went on in my head,” or as if we are “this little light of mine” as we choose to be like a physical light for others. These phrases also begin to turn me more to the internal lights.

 

That is for the next time.

 

It is tempting to believe that what I call Internal Light is more important. Truthfully, however, for me, if I do not have enough physical light in my life, my ability to access my internal light feels depleted and a bit more of a struggle. In my darkest moments, even as I can see their rewards, the longing is there for the tiniest sliver of light to enter and keep me company.

 

For now…simply relish the physical light in gratefulness and perhaps with a few moments of acknowledgement that takes each of us below the surface.

 

 

If it is your first time here, thank you for reading. I share a blog on Mondays with a few resources and or prompts attached, and what I am calling a “news potpourri” on Fridays, simply about the life of the week. The potpourri might be connected to the blog or a bit random.

 

I invite you to share your thoughts in the comments. What has meaning and certain perspectives for me will likely be different than the meaning and perspectives that fill you as you dip along with me. That’s the beauty. The well is whatever it is for each one who comes to it. It is not a template. It is a space of its own and is always available to you and all who visit to carry away that which uniquely fills the individual soul.