Yesterday, was the shortest day of the year. Winter solstice. This significant day also marks the beginning of the increase of light right up until the Summer Solstice; the longest day of the year.  

The darkest day means the beginning of the brightest light to come.

I have been tracking light for as long as I can remember.  When I was a child, my dad owned a portrait studio named, “Catch Light” which must have created a curiosity within me early on for which I am grateful.

My favorite book? “All the Light We Cannot See”.

My favorite element to photograph? Prismatic light when it dances across any water surface. 

My favorite time of day? The golden hour.  Those precious moments when the sun dips below the horizon and the flash of green follows.  

My favorite experience to have with any of my students? Boom! When the light turns on and a new concept is learned and understood! 

My favorite moments ever with my daughters? When their shared laughter radiates light throughout our home and this is felt, heard, seen and treasured.  

My favorite holiday traditions? The lighted boat parade, the peaceful glow of boats quietly circling from the pier to the harbor. Watching my girls put up the tree lights and driving to nearby neighborhoods to see the many decorated homes with … you guessed it; brilliant lights!

Light, it seems, is easy to find.  Until it wisps away as the earths’ poles tilt far away from the sun. 

Tonight, I was walking along the beach near my home.  It’s beautiful exposed rocky shoreline is stunning and it’s because of the king tides.  Here again nature presents in this amazing way.   King tides, where the sea is at its most extreme; the very highest and the very lowest.  

Darkest and lightest.   Highest and lowest.  And in both cases, beauty awaits.  

Beauty – in all its glory – AWAITS. 

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It’s winter break.  The girls and I are home.  We walked the king tides on winter solstice.  We experienced the furthest back the tide can be on the shortest day of the year.   

The waterline was pushed so far from the cliffs that the slick, mossy green surfaces covering the rigid rocks was visible in all directions. The light by 3:00 pm, already beginning to retreat.  And my four girls, and the unique light they each carry inside them, walking next to me.  

Beauty, in all its glory, was right THERE.  

That’s the magic of light.  It presents in so many remarkable ways. Therein lies all kinds of nature-graced mystery.  Light can expand and radiate in all directions.  It can interfere with other waves. It can bend around corners and light can carry energy and momentum. 

Yes. Yes it can.  Light can literally do all this. 

And so can WE.

We can expand and radiate.  We can interfere to create more light where darkness has taken over.  We can bend to make space for someone else to receive the light.  We can carry energy and momentum so to illuminate the world around us.  

Winter solstice. The darkest day of the year and the visual reminder that the brightest light is yet to come.  

May this holiday season gift you with the beauty you have been seeking.  May 2023 bring the light that you need most and may the new year allow you to share your unique light as far and as wide as it can reach.