A MOMENT OF MAGIC

There is a very regular little chunk of my house, a standard, albeit steep stairwell. Around Christmas time, my husband Nick hung some inexpensive LED fairy lights, and this previously common passage became an alcove for very special moments. These little lights are not customizable, they haven’t hung anywhere else in our house. They don’t provide enough light to read in the dark, or nurture the plants. They’re not motion activated and they’re held up by low-tech little plastic hooks.

They’re also magical. They’re positioned perfectly so that you can’t see them until you’re underneath the strands, suddenly basking in multicolored glow. They’re activated by a switch on the other side of the wall, so that someone can create a surprise moment of delight for another person walking in the stairs. And for these reasons, I can’t bring myself to take them down.

These lights are delicate, which makes them clear and firm in their boundaries. When they can’t reach across to the other side of the hall, they simply don’t. When stretched too far, the lights don’t illuminate and they’re uncompromising. For something like a strand of lights, it’s so easy for us to see that when they’re not connected to what brings them energy, in this case, the nearest outlet,  they don’t work.

They’re not trying to be a spotlight, floor lamp or flashlight. This string of LEDS is not diversifying its services to be a beacon breaking through the darkness, or a candle bringing heat and light into the shadowy corners. These lights are only casting their small but magical glow onto the walls directly next to them. This effect is what makes the magic. When the lights are doing EXACTLY what they were designed for, it creates whimsy and an experience that no other light source could duplicate.

With a little bit of creative leeway, these teeny, colorful, bright spots can teach us.

We can refuse to stretch, bend and perform when we don’t have access to the necessary energy. We can be unapologetic in doing our work the way we designed it. Not everyone is a lighthouse, every engaged viewer is not a ship in peril. BUT Everyone appreciates a magical experience.

I’m not normally a supporter of lofty, fluffy euphemisms, but in this case I think it’s apt to say, “be the light”. Or in this case, be a string of $6.99 LEDS. The goal is  to not just appreciate the lights, or even understand the analogy, but to actually live like the Christmas lights that have become permanent decor. Hopefully this will help you to shine like fairy lights, and enchant the masses. 

To see the lights in action, go to my instagram @root_strength_consulting , or click the link on the bottom of the page.