Fireflies

the saving light

This story (in my own words), was told to me by a friend. He is gone now.

And I wonder how it is-

so many of us miss the truer meaning behind light:

For it should never be taken for granted or thought on as a tool for man's wielding; but given space to wear all the faces it so magnificently possesses.

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The Saving Light

In the black abyss of a winters night, moon waxing crescent in a cold western sky I, the un-housed grip on life embrittled and surreal.

Is this living? Why have my brethren forsaken me, for I have harmed no man or beast. No broken soul promise. No disservice or dart. Born elsewhere and so, off-hued in this lands pallet, yet come true and shoulder straight, with hopes of a better life for child and self. Now, from a few poor choices I lay here tumbled and bent.

Floating in the icy abyss, a dirty blanket tossed on overgrown hedgerows, the notion of camping long outplayed. A too small starter stove for warmth in the damp wet with a stomach that unmasks the ways in which real nourishment is now but a memory.

Looking around in the pitch I realize that to some, I am nothing more than spittIe on the mouth corners of gluttony. Looking up I see the stars, yet they lend no warmth. Still, they whisper words of comfort while I shiver. Ancient ancestors from a bygone epoch. I imagine there was a time we kissed and were one.

"I am light" I remember, and breathe, my head tucked in a makeshift bedroll. I warm my prana to remind me I am still human. Inward resting. No time or place nor body.

I accept a quivering peace that I Am, releasing the heavy burden of effort to name any thing, and float at last into tranquil acceptance, forgiving myself my humanity. Like the wink of a firefly, I am gone.

After what seem like years passage, ever so gently there is a sound. My garbled heart works to return from the void and decipher it. Birdsong? 

Frozen from tears my eyes haltingly melt open. Change. Unperceceptable at first and yet... something.

The skies ink slowly turns indigo. My frozen bones begin to stir, roused by an ancient love that has entered me like a thousand hands have knitted a quilt of warm belonging. I am not alone. Ancestors rhythmic chanting sing me back to Mother. To nature. To Life.

Their soft song allows me to feel again. The light of morning comes. There is truth beyond cold clouds. Beyond judgment. A second chance.

Its glow now melts my heart. 

It is enough.

~

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“Where your fear is, there is your task”

~ Carl Jung

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My friend eventually made it out of his predicament and went on to realize a better life for himself and daughter before he left us, but he shared what a life changing moment this time was. He was a musician, and many people don’t realize how precarious day to day life can be when all your heart and soul chooses this type of occupation. I found myself pondering some of the things I mention below. Perhaps you might like to as well:

What is your immediate reaction when you witness homelessness? Why do you believe it has it grown so exponentially around the globe?

Perhaps without us really understanding why, our natural human instincts show us how  threadbare the layers are between each other.

Most of us have compassion of course, but some lash out or look down upon our fellow humans simply because, to quote Hermann Hesse, they have fallen “Beneath the Wheel”. People are people the world over however, and in all likelihood no matter place or culture, for the most part they start out just as we do.

Ultimately, we are all born of light, and every single individual alive should be afforded the opportunity to thrive.

What is it, in difference and darkness that makes us afraid? To my mind, there is a lack of the use of mirrors in our culture. We have opportunities all around us. It is a gift really, to have the opportunity to look at others as oneself. No need to sit on a mountain top, because it is right here before us. Though it may seem terrifying at first, I am shown, through simply witnessing the lives of folks that grasp far more than I ever will, that it is likely the easiest road to our own light and the cessation of fear. Every person we encounter, every new or unique taste, place or vision crossing our path, is an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding and trust in ourselves.

We live in a system that isn’t very smart, yet here we are, born into it. There is nothing wrong with being different, like having an outlook that tends more toward the creative than the regimented for instance. In fact, I’d say, as long as no harm is done to others, it’s quite natural to express ones own personal style. And while this may not be an easy path, we yet still (thank goodness!), have our own free will to choose, and it should not be judged so harshly as it has become almost common place to do. While it may seem so at times, none of us is actually made to fit a mold. All this does is simply make it easy for societal systems to process us as it will. 

Perhaps in some ways, those beautiful souls we find broken at the margins have got it righter than we do. 

~

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Artwork: “Fireflies” by Drew

All Rights Reserved ©️ 2026

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“For there remains, in this space-age universe, the possibility that man’s way is not always best”
~ Rachael Carson

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May all beings know peace.

#blessUp ✌🏽