The festival of Diwali seems like such an appropriate time to write about seeking the light.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the Washington Post experiment, for which Joshua Bell, one of the best concert violinists in the world played for free, for 45 minutes, on a violin worth 3.5 million dollars at a subway station. Over a thousand people passed by Bell, only seven stopped to listen him play, including a 3-year old boy, and only one person recognized him.
Makes me think of how often, we’re so caught up with what we’re doing, so absorbed in the ordinary, that we don’t see the extraordinary – that spot of blue in a background of greens.
We can get so focused on all the bad stuff going on around us that we forget there’s so much good in the world too.
So caught up in the darkness that we don’t see the light.
But must just now see the light. We must consciously seek it.
Have you noticed how a cats will find that one spot of sunlight coming in and soak it up?
I want to be like that cat – consciously seeking the light.
The light of love. The light of truth.
Even when it’s easier to choose what masks itself as the light. Because the light doesn’t necessarily show up what’s ‘nice’. More often than not it shows up things that we try to hide. Our pretensions. All those hurts and wounds we’ve tried to put band-aid up and hope that they will heal.
Healing often takes more than band-aid – it is blo*** hard work that needs courage and persistence.
I ask myself if I’m bold enough to seek the light.Like the say goes, sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is a train! Am I prepared to board it? Am I prepared to continue the journey of healing? Am I ready to tear those band-aids off and look beyond to see where the real wounds are.
I wish you light today. May you seek it too.
The band aids when removed are extremely painful. I have tried once and now I am afraid how healed it is under the band aid.
I wish you all the light today,Corinne.
A lovely lesson there, Corinne. Seeking light for ourselves is a critical aspect of growing.
Brilliant post, Corinne. Seeking the light beyond darkness is always appreciable. Light reveals the truth. Light heals. Light gives hope. I love darkness and light the same way. For without darkness, light is not sensed. Darkness is truth too.
Healing is a hard thing. Sometimes the hurt scabs over but the scab keeps growing and, eventually, covers all of a person. Others can heal from the greatest hurt – I think of Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped and her experiences during that captivity. They could have destroyed her. They didn’t. She is an activist now. I wonder what is the difference in personality that makes this possible.
I hadn’t heard of that experiment…. how extraordinary. It just speaks to how caught up we all are in our own world of rushing and need to get somewhere without noticing what’s going on around us. So easy to do. I try to remind myself (and then act on that) to be mindful and grateful. Blessings, Corinne.
Very thought provoking. I’m reminded of the story I plan to write for NaNoWriMo starting tomorrow. It’s about someone given the chance to live life over who hopes to make better choices. I thought about naming it “The Tunnel” as in “the light at the end of”. ~grin~ Thanks for sharing!
Happy Diwali dear Corinne. What a lovely celebration that is… Loved this post too – sometimes you need to see the darkness to recognise the light – thats what I have felt anyway – am very attracted to all symbolic meanings of the light – in the positive sense. To me it is hope and strength, the belief that there is something good out there, that the sky is blue above the cloud, that the sun will break out… So this was an emotional read for me. Sending love and light:-)
that was an interesting experiment. Next time I see someone playing an instrument or singing/dancing in the subway, I’ll pay more attention!
I am reminded of the starwars line – “May the force (light) be with you! – what a thoughtful post Corinne and yes seeking that spot of light is so difficult let alone see it when its falling so casually all around you. We are so caught up in wishing for more that we tend to miss out that little beam of sunshine