Let There Be Light

I was reading my favourite magazine today, Woman Alive, and there was a short passage about allowing more light into your life and how you can simply achieve this.  The recommendation was to actually clean the light bulbs so that the light literally reaches further around the room and then the suggestion to go with it was to try and see what new thing/s you can see or what can you see better.

This resounded so close to home with me because Seb has for the last year had a bulb in his main bedroom light that isn’t bright enough for his room, so his room is constantly dinghy. It literally lights up the area directly on the carpet below and everything else is pretty much is shadow. Each week I tell myself I will remember to get a new bulb and each week my mind wanders to the biscuit and coffee aisle and clean forgets. But this week we happened to be in the supermarket together, which was a rare occurrence as I love a home delivery shop!

So after we’d browsed the dog treat aisle, as you do, we turned the corner and there before us was the lightbulb section!  Seb was most excited but also rather concerned that I didn’t have enough competency about me to make the correct choice of bulb but I would not be deterred or dissuaded!  So armed with two new light bulbs (and yes they were the right ones!) we headed home.

Pretty much the first thing we did once we were through the door was race upstairs.  With a slight near mishap (Seb not quite understanding the concept of NOT turning the light on mid swap!) we successfully managed to install his new light. When we turned the light switch on the room literally lit up like a bright summers day and Seb’s smile of delight contained the same dazzle. He was quite literally both overjoyed and amazed by the sight of his “new” room. Not only could we actually see into each corner of the room and see every detail of each toy and Lego model he possessed but they were all so much richer and more alive.  It sounds small but it’s transformed the time he spends in his room and brought him a huge amount of happiness.

So if you need to change a lightbulb or clean some dusty ones, I would highly recommend it!  Or maybe go into a room and stand there in the dark for a minute or two. Then turn the light on and look around and as you enjoy the new glow and perspective maybe just allow your mind to rest on the process of noticing the old in a new light; of seeing the forgotten for the first time again; and noticing something you didn’t even know was there.

Then take this moment and allow a new light to shine bright into your life; your family, friends, work, community.  What matters?  What doesn’t?  Whose hurting? Who can you help? Maybe you haven’t been missing anything, maybe you have, or maybe you have been in a dark place. A place of sadness or loss, where light seems forgotten.   Go ahead and switch that light on and see them all afresh and radiant, like a bright summers day.  Because the light is never gone, it just sometimes goes behind a cloud.

“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good” Genesis 1 v 3-4

My favourite magazine can be found at http://www.womanalive.co.uk !