LET THERE BE LIGHT

“Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live.”

~ Goethe

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 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, scientist and lover alike, to use what we discover and live in the light.

~ Center yourself, and as you breathe, envision what you need to live more fully.

~ As you inhale, commit to trying to find this today without judging what happens.

~ As you exhale, commit to making use of whatever it is you discover.

The Book of Awakening

~ Mark Nepo