Dear Friends,
Summer has begun, at last!! Well, technically, it began a few days ago, but such beginnings should be savored. With that mind, here is a reposting of my love affair with the light.
I love summer solstice more than any other day; more than my birthday, more than my anniversaries, and more than any other holidays of the year. I can’t really explain it. Simply put, no other days feel like this one. My body is giddy with excitement.
I get a kick out of knowing that this is the longest, most light-filled day of the year. My whole body opens like a flower and I feel like a kid on their birthday.
It’s good to feel this kind of giddy love; it adds to the celebration of L I G H T that happens in my heart and hearth. A celebration of creation. It’s not a forced or intellectual exercise, but something born of gladness in my body.
I’m not sure when this awareness about light started for me. Maybe I noticed that there was a difference in how I felt, depending on if I was in rainy Yorkshire, UK or sunny Punjab, India.
I remember in my early twenties getting on a plane at JFK after spending a summer on the east coast and crying. I felt heartbroken because I knew I was leaving all this light that I had reveled in all summer.
I have since then learned how to never be away from that light and the joy it brings me.
In hindsight, my love of light is obvious in my life’s path. From living in New Mexico with its 300+ sunny days a year to my work which involves light, and even my favorite medium, film, which is made of it.
Light speaks to my mind, my emotions and the cells of my body. Light connects me to the invisible realms and allows my consciousness to move at speeds that feel like home.
I would like to invite you to join me to celebrate light and the gifts that it shines into our lives.
Take a moment and find a spot that you can move (light makes me want to dance) or be still in without feeling self-conscious. A place you can be quiet and expand your consciousness.
Close your eyes and we’ll begin.
Breathe in and out of your body. Allow your attention to turn inward. With your eyes closed begin to notice the light around you. You may see it with your inner vision as brightness or as little sparks.
Take another breath now and shift your focus to the light not only around you but within you. What do you experience? It’s perfectly fine to allow your visualization muscles to help out here. You may experience pops of color or splashes or waves of light. What does your inner light feel like for you? Does it draw you to it? Does it make you want to dance?
If you don’t “see” the light it’s ok. You may be perceiving it in other ways. Allow yourself to be curious and follow the cues from your senses. Remember, it can take a few times to get the hang of something new, it’s just like learning a new language. Please be patient and give it another go.
If you could give a gift to the light what would it be? Imagine that gift and extend it to the light. What happens when the light receives your gift? How do you feel as you express your gratitude to the light?
My gift to the light was love. I saw it as beautiful red drops and tulip petals radiating out to the light. Then I saw them dissolving like drops of red in the immense ocean of light. I imagined this love filled light being part of the whole, touching galaxies, whirling around in chlorophyll, fireworks, and rainbows. It felt like I was part of the dance of life.
Light is within and around us, even on dark days and dark nights of the soul. It is there to guide us, nourish us and remind us of the bigger whole to which we all belong. That is what I celebrate on this day.
Happy summer solstice, my friends.
With Love,
Navjit