Broken Light Fixtures Shine Brighter

I got out of the shower and noticed that the glass in one of our bathroom lights was broken. (I didn't get a photo, but it was jagged and tilted so we threw it out.) I was worried it had happened on its own in the middle of the night while we slept, so I was happy when Hubby said he knocked into it yesterday somehow, but he didn't notice it had broken.

So... we threw out the glass, knowing we'll either find a replacement or replace the entire fixture. No biggie. Just some time and effort. No one is hurt, and the room is a bit brighter.

I thought the light would be blinding without the frosted glass, but it's not. It's really nice, actually. I love a lot of light, and I'm glad we've got this while we search for a new one. I immediately thought... I've got an idea for the #SOL this week, as I've seen this before in my life. The broken light shines brighter...

Just this past week, when I gave my presentation about shifting away from stress, I shared how "broken" I was during pandemic teaching. How I cried every day during school and every night at home through all of September of 2020, and many days and nights following during that horrendous school year. And I shared that I am much stronger now. I feel that, when I'm able to give my full attention to the people I'm around each day like I've been practicing, my "light" is stronger now.

I've jumped on Instagram again recently, and an old Twitter friend from 2014 showed up in my replies. She's been absent from my life for at least eight years. She shared that she'd gotten married and then in 2021 her husband took his life by suicide. I started following her right away, and it looks like now she shares about mental health and strategies to overcome depression. She is no longer quiet and not sharing on Instagram - she's shining brighter. Her light is stronger for all to see.

Nobody's life is perfect. We all have our ups and downs / highs and lows. If we stop during the lows to evaluate what is happening and how we're reacting, we can learn from those challenging times. We can grow from them. A former student of mine, Jake Lavin, shared with our school (years later as he shared about his Happiness Project) an analogy about a grape... 

Imagine you're a grape, growing beautifully on the vine, reaching for the sun, ripening right on time, when someone plucks you and some friends off the vine. You get dropped on the ground. It's darker there, but you've still got some old friends with you - until you get stepped on. Now you're really in the dirt, and you look nothing like your old self. No one will want you now. Your life, as you know it, is over. You are pushed down further the more you get stepped on. Eventually, you're covered with dirt, fall leaves and debris, snow over that, and you're really in a dark, wet, nasty place. You never see the sun anymore. You never feel the wind or the rain. You're there for months, thinking life couldn't get any worse. When suddenly... you begin to sprout new life. You eventually become your own vine, reaching for the sky, emerging out of the dirt, up the trellis, and you grow even more grapes...

He did a much better job of explaining it! 

I'll try ending with a poem, as many #SOL writers have modeled doing so...

A misstep leads to a

Broken frosted pane we take down due to its sharp edges and 

Light beams blast from the 

Fixture upon the wall - no more sheltering of the light that now 

Shines farther than it did before... signaling 

Brighter days are ahead - for me and for those that can be reached by this light.

Interesting... I ended up writing that backwards...

When is a time you've been "broken" and have come back "brighter"?

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