“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that receives it.”
― Edith Wharton
While planning our homeschool year, and changing the direction of my homeschooling by putting the “home” and “family” back into it, I came up with a theme. (I wrote about it all here.) Throughout the first part of our year, I haven’t been overwhelmed in teaching because I keep one question in my mind when I have to choose material to deliver :
Where is the light?
What stories are filled with light? What can I do to temper the heavy with lightness? Can I shine a light in the darkness?
As my children get older, I feel the added responsibility of helping them not be afraid of the dark and how to find the light within themselves and in others. As with everything else, the best way to teach is to model it. Adolescence is an ocean and fog of emotion and questions. How can I be the lighthouse for them when I am unsure of how to be that for myself?
“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.”
– Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Yesterday I wrote about finding comfort in the darkness. More specifically, being comfortable in the discomfort of the unknown and the obscure, the undefined edges and blurred outlines of what is certain. I have not always been able to find the light or even remember that light can come in many forms – a radiant blinding beam, a raging fire, a spotlight, the dim twinkle of stars, and a small flickering flame.
The willingness to look, to see, to shine a light is to be curious and to wonder. The dark serves its purpose – a place of germination and of dreaming – but we cannot stay there or we will begin to wander aimlessly, complacent in blind ignorance.
Awareness is light. Beauty is light. Love is light.
This year I will let light in. I won’t be afraid of my own light, afraid that it may be too bright or not enough. I will shine so that I may give permission for my children to shine. I will be a light chaser and a fire keeper. I will remove the weight of the world from my shoulders and lighten up.
And maybe, just maybe, I may a hug a few people along the way.
Leave a Reply