Light, both
real and metaphorical. It intrigues me.
Real light
always wins. It banishes darkness every time.
It’s the
fastest traveler in the universe. If you
could travel at the speed of light, so I’m told, you could go anywhere in the
universe in zero seconds. (Intrigued? Go here
for more.)
Photographers
and other visual artists use light to create depth and interest. Morning or
afternoon light, striking the subject at a slant, dramatizes, picks
out intricate details and leaves mysterious areas of darkness.
A ritual
at my house is commenting on the change in light as seasons change. It’s gradual,
of course, but one day near the solstice or the equinox, the light will be
different enough to notice. Faulkner noticed, even entitling a novel, Light in August.
Then there
are those evenings when the fading light is blue and transcendent and tinges
everything with its failing pulse. Pure magic.
Metaphorically
speaking, language is a lot like light. “Lucid” means to transmit light. Lucid
prose is transparent and easy to understand. But a perfectly lucid story will
be a boring story. Storytellers must cast shadows. Readers demand the drama of light battling
with—and usually defeating— darkness.
No one
wants to read about the happy protagonist lolling about in the sunshine—not for
long anyway.
I love to watch the sunset from an upstairs window. It's the best light of the day and seen from upstairs it's even better.
ReplyDeleteThey say that the flame on a candle can reach into your heart.
I love how the light changes with the seasons. It's one of the reasons I couldn't stand living in Phoenix. It was always just bright sun. ;0)
ReplyDeleteI have a love affair with light. I spend a lot of years as a theatrical lighting designer. I love to manipulate light through the air until it illuminates the world on stage. LIght is magic to me. My favorite natural light is when the rays of the sun breakthough gray clouds after a storm. My grandfather used to tell me they were a soul's path to Heaven.
ReplyDeleteLove this post, especially the bit about language being like light. So true! I have always been fascinated by the way that what humans see and how we see colour so much of how we think and feel. Yes, storytellers must definitely cast shadows, if only for the bright bits to be seen more clearly. Very nice. Glad I dropped by:)
ReplyDeleteIsabella
Fairytale Review: 'Fanta-Ghiro the Beautiful'