When the Lights Went Out: Finding Inner Light on Whidbey Island
When you write, what do you need most?
A room of one’s own?
Water?
An enchanted forest?
Great food?
A friend?
Electricity?
Wait! What?
You need electricity to write?
The fourteen of us who were lucky enough to attend the workshop Writing Spirit, Writing Faith: A Week with Mary Potter were blessed by all of the above — with a twist.
A storm knocked off electricity for more than three of our five full days together.
Our Whidbey Institute hosts performed magic, providing our most basic needs and much good cheer as we waited for the lights and the heat to come back on. Some of us wrote poems. Others worked on novels, sermons, essays. We learned, chanted, ate challah, and told stories.
We wrote by candlelight. We wrote with pens on paper.
We found inner light and we loved it.
When the lights came back on, we went a little crazy.
In this season of light, surrounded by so much darkness, where do you go to find inner light? Would love to hear your stories below!
While decorating our Christmas tree this year I somehow longed for the childhood joy I used to feel at this time of year. “Where had the magic gone?” I wondered. I remembered a German Christmas Carol we always sang: “Alle Jahre wieder.” On impulse I googled it and up came a beautiful rendition, taking me right back to those wonderful days. Not only that carol, but many other German carols, one after another came automatically. I realized what a wonderful gift my mother had given us by singing these songs with us, and I got my Christmas joy back again!
Oh, Elfrieda. Thank you for this gift. I am listening to children singing and watching the candle flicker on this Alle Jahre wieder video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOuRLRszIcc. It must have brought tears to your eyes to have your childhood memories made so vividly clear aurally and visually.
You passed along the joy restored to you. May many others feel the power of love.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
How timely this is, Shirley. I’d just sat down to listen to old (as in OLD) Christmas albums, hoping to get into the spirit of the time by listening to what I once listened to at this time. A part of me just wants to hide away at this often too hectic time. Your post, particularly the first comment, from Elfreida, has helped tremendously. Thank you both.
Thanks, Janet. I think all of us can be overwhelmed with all of the activity at Christmas/Hannukah time. And this year, with terrible international and national news stories bombarding us, the light seems harder than ever to find.
I’m glad you took some quiet time to try to find it. And I’m even more appreciative of Elfrieda’s response. I think I’ll go click on that link again! Merry Christmas.
Looks absolutely lovely — peaceful and surrounded by nature and like-minded writers. Love it.
It was a lovely week, Linda. So many memories and photos. I had a hard time picking just a few. Another participant, Karen Jolly, wrote her own blog post with poems and photos. If you ever get a chance to apply for one of the Collegeville programs, it’s worth a try!
Happy holidays to you and yours. Thanks for stopping by!
Shirley — You shine from the inside, out; glowing on everyone around you.
I absolutely love this: “We wrote by candlelight. We wrote with pens on paper.
We found inner light and we loved it.”
One of the items on my bucket list includes staying at Hedgebrook (where women writers author change) on Whidbey Island (http://www.hedgebrook.org).
You asked: “In this season of light, surrounded by so much darkness, where do you go to find inner light?”
My short answer is divine love.
I pulled this excerpt from my manuscript as my long answer:
“Another area of tremendous interest to me is the optical occurrence in certain gemstones such as moonstone, opal, and labradorite. It’s known as adularescence—a distinctive shimmering or glow that appears to come from below the surface but is caused by diffraction of light.
“This phenomenon is impossible in the absence of light. The shimmering takes place only when light is present. Similarly, it’s my desire to live in a heart-based manner that radiates the presence of inner light—divine love.”
Thank you so much for bringing light to this space and to many others via your words, Laurie. And thank you for the compliment. It helps to know we are a band of sisters desiring the same thing.
Thanks too for the link to Hedgebrook. You are the second writer friend who mentioned these residencies to me. Looks wonderful. “Not a retreat. An advance.”
Divine love, so near to us if we only take a moment to wonder. “oh oh tidings of wonder and joy!” to you and your family.
What a lovely post, Shirley, and the comments, too. I especially loved Elfrieda’s above. I love how she was transported by the melodies of Christmas past. And you and your friends–eating challah (I love it!) and finding your inner light by candle light.
Lately, I seem to be finding a strange peace in writing poetry in my mind as I engage actively in spin class. Not all the time, but sometimes. . .very weird. 🙂
I love the thought of poetry forming in your heart and mind as you move your body. What an exciting way to experience inner light. And the results you share on your blog reveal the depth of your experience.
The group was one you would have enjoyed. The topic was spirituality and writing and the we had many varieties of Christians, a Jewish teacher, and one rabbi in the room. Sounds like the beginning of a joke. 🙂 It was quite wonderful.
I love this post, Shirley – wonderful pictures of your inspiring weekend and a reminder that while we may experience darkness at times, the darkness cannot overcome the light. May that light continue to shine brightly for you!
Great to see you here again, April. It’s been too long since I checked in on you, also.
I imagine you revisit this theme at every Advent and Christmas season. As do I. With each one, the darkness seems deeper. Thank God, the Light never goes out. Blessings as you prepare words for your congregation in the flesh and online.
I’m glad I peeked in at this to find out about these writer workshops. I’d heard of Collegeville Institute of course, but was fuzzy on how their workshops worked. Another “some day” idea. Which is a nice future light to keep me inspired and working!
Hi Melodie, I’m glad you peeked in. I would encourage you to put Collegeville on your list of places to check out when you see the opportunity on your schedule. Such a powerful mission. I hope to get to the St. John University (MN) campus some day also. Most of their workshops and residencies take place there.
A future light indeed!
You reflect both inner and outer light here beautifully. Here’s a follow-up to your comment on my blog post: I just finished talking to Kitsa after more than fifty years. During our phone conversation she mentioned that she is head of the Hellenic culture initiative at her church, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in NC, still shining her light brightly.
“This little light of mine” is a message that we need to shout from the rooftops. I sense that those who are filled with divine light are observing the dire need and beginning to step up to the challenge.
How wonderful, Marian. So glad you and Kitsa connected again. I can only imagine the lights in an Orthodox church. I am sure they are beautiful in this season.
Yes, as the darkness around us increases, we need to look for the Light, in our faith and in each other.
You certainly let yours shine! Merry Christmas.
Yes, the light lives within each of us as testified to by the heart made visible in the posts above, stirring cherished memories and dreams for the future. This season, I am filled with gratitude for dear friends and family members who hold the light for me when I cannot see it. Jan Richardson’s blessing says it so well:
Blessed Are You Who Bear the Light
Blessed are you
who bear the light
in unbearable times,
who testify
to its endurance
amid the unendurable,
who bear witness
to its persistence
when everything seems
in shadow
and grief.
Blessed are you
in whom
the light lives,
in whom
the brightness blazes—
your heart
a chapel,
an altar where
in the deepest night
can be seen
the fire that
shines forth in you
in unaccountable faith
in stubborn hope
in love that illumines
every broken thing
it finds.
– Jan Richardson
May peace and love bring hope to you and your family this Advent season.
I love this poem, Kathleen! Thank you for sharing it here. Reminds me of the Japanese practice of mending pots (broken things) with gold and making them more beautiful than they were before.
Sending a blessing for Light to illumine all the broken places in our dear groaning world — and for a special measure for you and yours.
One of my best writing retreats, Shirley, was held at Mt. St. Francis retreat center when they over scheduled. The writers were in half of the building, while the Colorado Harpists Society practiced, rehearsed, and held their sessions in the other half. It turned out to be a wonderful meeting of creative minds.
On the last evening, the harpists had taken poems from two of the writers and one of the harpists read them aloud as the others played the background.
It was a delightful, creative and encouraging time.
How lovely that serendipitous sound must have seemed to you then, Marylin, and now again in your memory. All the arts help us experience light. It seems that the stimulation of one sense easily resonates with another.
When people ask how retreats help us, we each have testimonials. The artist benefits as much from community with others as from individual inspiration in a beautiful setting.
Wishing you much beauty in this season of light. Maybe time to put on some harp music?
Shirley, I’ve gone to writing classes with the same woman for 6 years. Once every autumn, she turns out the lights and we write by candlelight. It accesses a different wilder level. I don’t mind if the lights go out when someone else takes care of it, but I’ve had a few too many breakdowns around here since I began writing about the descent of the goddess (a Sumerian story about going into darkness, facing mortality, and then rebirth. Wonderful talented people who kept you fed and warm and building community around a campfire. The most basic human needs filled so you can turn to fellowship and words. Sounds wonderful.
Elaine, what a great practice. After this experience, I might try replicating your class ritual here with my fireplace and favorite pens and paper.
Yes, there is also something archetypal about the descent into darkness and the underworld. Demeter and Persephone come to mind also.
You would enjoy a workshop like this one I think. Have you ever applied for a residency?