Light is ubiquitous and ever-present (daily, obviously), but it seems like some times of year are more tuned to celebrate it. Take this season, for example.
As with many things, accentuating something usually is influenced by its relationship to its opposite. So, perhaps, it is this darker time of year...that makes all the variances of light more apparent, experienceable, enjoyable.
This, of course, can be highly cultural; but whatever the case, many of our traditions this time of year seem like a dance between darkness and light. I often have a sense of excitement about the sparkle this season creates — attracted to the beauty of lights in the context of darkness.
And, so, I annually return to a ritual of creating my contribution of light to the world.
Light does carry meaning for me. It reflects something from within me. It is a kind, I suppose, of a soft statement — about what I believe, about what I want. It is an appeal to something I need, as much as it is a gift of something I want to offer. It points to something that I participate with, that I join...a broader constellation of light-making in life. It makes tangible, in my proximity, something that is both transcendent and eternal — like an earthened version of the stars.
And, so, I get out the lights and put them up (irritated once again by their endless tangle, but committed nonetheless to doing it anyway) — satisfied by seeing their effect, knowing that they shine even when I'm not seeing them. I’m grateful for the significance, desire, and invitation that the lights of this season seem to create.
Tis the Season....
