Let There Be Light

I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend. Last week, both in our practice on the mat (with cutie pie crow pictured above) and off of it I touched on what it means to Live in the Light.   Often when we think of trying something new or putting ourselves out there, there is fear of rejection and failure.  Those fears can show up in many ways like self-doubt, stagnation or avoidance. I offered my students the opportunity to think about “trying something new” in a very different way… what if instead of the potential of “trying and failing” we reframe it as “trying and learning”. There is the opportunity to learn from all of our experiences…whether they happen the way we imagine them to or not. This theme is resonating in my life right now in a variety of ways so I shared this passage with my students as a reminder:

Let There Be Light –Mark Nepo

       When Edison was discovering the light bulb, he first engaged in a process of envisioning how an unseeable current of energy could be harnessed and turned into light. Like most of us, the vision came first. Once he understood what came to him it took quite some time to find the precise material that would work as a filament in the bulb itself. 

       Later, when asked if he ever grew discouraged or thought he was wasting his time, Edison said no, he learned something important each time he tried.He learned that there was another material not to be used. 

      The lessons here are very telling and transferable, especially to how we seek our calling in the world and to how we seek out love. To be willing to envision what we need is powerful and real, and just as crucial is the confidence of spirit to know that it will work, even though we haven’t found where we belong or whom to love yet. Equally as vital is the perseverance in trying to find precisely what will work. 

       But perhaps the most inspiring part of Edison’s journey is how he didn’t view his many attempts as any type of failure on his part, but rather as an inevitable part of the process of discovery. 

       Finally, after all of this, we are challenged, scientists and lover alike, to use what we discover and live in the light.