One time during the summer our oven started smoking. Of course, my mom, brother, and I went into a panic mode (well, I actually handle emergency situations really well and ran to get the fire extinguisher). When I was a kid half of our house burnt down. Unexpected smoke is something that can freak out any family. We were standing in the half of the house that didn’t burn down, and really didn’t want to turn the phrase “half our house burned down once” to “our house burned down. Just on two separate occasions”.
We were able to contain the situation, and as our anxiety slowly began to creep away from us my asthmatic lungs began to close up in reaction to the smoke.
And then I noticed the sunlight.
It was so beautiful. It distracted me from everything that happened. I just stopped a stared. Within the mist of panic, partial suffocation, and unwanted nostalgia I had to stop and just look. It was like those rays of light that cut through the smoke cut through my anxiety.
Suddenly, oxygen wasn’t priority. It was like everything was just ok. Everything was fine. And everything was beautiful. Panic and emergency turned into unexpected beauty. It was as if some sort of peaceful, almost angelic force just swept over me and said “everything’s fine”. The light said that to me.
I pointed it out to my family and they also stopped to take a moment to look. Rather than getting my inhaler and I decided to take out my phone and capture this calming, natural force that flooded me with calm.
It was a relaxed mesmerization, as if slipping into a warm tub. In retrospect it reminds me of my grandma.
Wonderful image, story and connection to light - great resource material for theatre and wonderful affirmation of the power of light :)
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