Here in the first bit of Lent, with way less scrolling and many more chapters of books under my belt; with bundled up walks, intentional stretching and much more silence than I’m used to, there’s one thing I know to be true: it matters where you get your light. Light illuminates and directs our gaze and our steps. Light clarifies and informs what and how we see. Light inspires, exposes, and renews, and the presence of light even changes our brain chemistry but not all light is the same.

The flicker from a phone screen is not the same as a candle that illuminates a yoga studio room.

The sun on your face on a winter walk is not the same as the light emitting from a news program playing on your tv.

A child’s smile in the midst of enjoying a music class is not the same as even the most adorable kid who’s featured in a viral Instagram reel.

It matters where you get your light.

There’s a student I see weekly at a home daycare music class who, when all the kids are underneath a floating and fluttering parachute, routinely says one word over and over: lovely. 

It’s so dear to see his peaceful smile as the colors rise and fall above him and his friends, so sweet and funny to hear him say, “lovely” again and again. But there’s also something in how this four-year-old boy chooses to perceive, take in and enjoy that experience that we all could learn from.

Because it matters where you get your light.

Light is everywhere and it’s competing for our attention. Neon, screens, candles, fluorescent bulbs, television, advertisements, stars in a night sky or even the sun itself – light comes in many forms, but naming what is good and whole and choosing that is something that’s available to everyone. There may just be a whole lot more beauty than what we see today.

So I’m wondering: what’s something lovely you could choose to enjoy today? Where are you finding your light?

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Blessed Lent to you, friend.

Say hello, and find more writing and podcasts at kerrycampbell.org