There are two ways of spreading light:
to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton
(1862-1937)
A very dear friend gave this quotation to me once, with love. It really resonated with me then and I've never forgotten it.
Not everyone is designed to be the source of powerful illumination, lighting the way clearly for themselves and those who are drawn to their radiance. But reflecting is a good way to spread light too, isn't it? Perhaps with a softer, subtler glow, which sometimes has to be looked for more carefully to be noticed, but is still beautiful and inspirational in its own way.
I've been wondering recently about whether I'm naturally more inclined to radiate or to reflect.
Sometimes I feel incapable of either - not even shiny enough to bounce back into the world someone else's brightness and intensity. At times like this I feel more like the dark cupboard under the stairs, drawing in light from those who shine around me, with little or nothing to give back.
More often, I feel I'm gently burnished, like an old mirror, or a polished copper sconce. Or perhaps I'm like a lake of still water. Best suited to reflecting out into the world and back at others far more radiant than I, the beauty of their luminosity. At times I am also conscious of containing the source itself. More like a candle than an electric bulb though. A deeply-seated, constant flame that not only lights my way but usually has a little energy to spare for others too. I'd like to combine these two states constantly, as if a hurricane lamp, but I don't always manage it very successfully.
Occasionally, very occasionally, I feel in me a strong, bright, golden light - definitely more radiant than reflective. This is a powerful state but not one I can maintain for long and not one that I have felt for a while. I know people who operate at this level most of the time and I am drawn to and admire them but it's not where I'm most comfortable myself, or necessarily at my best.
I'm okay with this. As long as I can avoid the dark spaces, I'm happy to glow sometimes and, most often, to reflect...
How about you? Which is your most comfortable state?
Wishing you love and light on this Friday, and every day! ♥
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10 comments:
In your words and your photography I see both. You find beauty in simple things and radiate it to all of us.
In fact, I was talking about your blog to some friends of mine today who I dragged with me on a walk around Seattle armed with cameras. I told them about how you found diamonds echoed in stain glass windows, chunks of shale and even the crossed branches of trees (and that was just 1 day!). Your radiance has inspired me greatly!
btw - no one can radiate all of the time and your candlelight makes me feel like curling into myself by the fire with a glass of wine and a good book!
This beautiful post makes me want to read some more Wharton and to buy some candles for my studio.
This is really lovely. Like every person is unique our light is unique as well.
I think you might be brighter than you think you are (if I can say that). You are all kinds of light.
What a lovely piece of writing - writing that shines and radiates! I have never really thought about it in this way, but now, reflecting on your question, I feel like I'm radiating, but only a tiny little flame, possibly just enough for myself to see by ... I would love to shine stronger, or to reflect light clearly, so that others can see/benefit by it too, but it is not in my personality, I think ...
oh radiant you! this is such a lovely post to read and ponder on a friday morning.
This is a beautiful piece of writing. I think thoughts like these together with your images would make for a lovely contemplative book. One to curl up.
With. I missed the with off the end.
Do I reflect or radiate, I forgot to say. I think I reflect for the most part. But it is worth giving it some more thought.
Kendalee, yes, yes, you do both! In fact, though we have never met, I am quite sure that this is the perfect way to describe you. I see it in both the beautiful words and images you share here, and the comments you scatter everywhere else.
You are most definately a glowy. I can step out onto the deck and see brilliance coming from your direction, loads of miles away...and I say "oh yes, there she is- that's Kendalee glowing over yonder!" I feel happy knowing that. I love your writing- it is so YOU! Beautiful!
oh how I "heart" the glow...mine is just a flicker at times...you really shine ELK
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