“Why do people put up lights?”
The lad, he asks a good question. I know his is based on the silly ads from Target this year, combined with a green sensibility that he’s gaining from the last ten years of science education and marketing about climate change.
But it’s an opportunity to point out to him that indeed it’s dark at 7am, and barely light when his bus picks him up 45 minutes later. The days are getting shorter, and on Solstice, the light turns around and comes back our way.
When he was little, we used to go watch the sunset and say goodbye, Mr. Sun, and one dawn on the 22nd, we went outside and banged pots and yelled for Mr. Sun to wake up and come back into our hemisphere.
He’s forgotten that. Another year, we celebrated Yule, with presents and candles and celebration on the 22nd. We stopped doing that because the world does not stop on that day. There was no hush to our after-dinner walk, no cheerful greetings from strangers. It’s a nice idea, but not practical where we lived, and I missed that special community feeling.
Last year, we were flying out on Christmas Day, to visit dear friends on a coast with beaches. So we did our “magical tree surprises” on the 24th. It was actually quite nice! The day was largely spent goofing off and enjoying what Santa brought, and we ended up at Target exchanging something and using “Christmas money.” Then later that evening, we went to a movie. Bending but not breaking our rituals seemed to work well.
However, why do people put up lights? Because they are pretty. Because they shine hope into the long dark night. Because those neighbors have done it every year and feel all Christmasy and holidayish when they do it. Because that house wants to be flashier than the other house. Because the birth of Jesus was set at Solstice to symbolize that He is The Light in a world of sin… The lad’s response: “That sounds cheesy.”
Today, I’m going to say, “In fact, my lad, we have a box of 600-plus lights on strings. Let’s untangle that and hang them up.” I wonder how he will take this news.
There are some aspects of creativity that rely on tradition, else you simply think “whatever for?” Creativity that speaks to an inner need, a desire for order or ritual is satisfying. Creativity that simply makes a mess or teaches a lesson is more likely to feel like school. Or a big mess.
I’ll present him with the Box O’Lights idea and see how he feels about sculpting our own message of hope in lights for the neighborhood to see.