Shed a Little Light

Dear Ones,

Every year on Martin Luther King Day I revisit James Taylor’s beautiful song, “Shed a Little Light,” which begins with these stanzas:

These lyrics always speak to me, and so strongly right now. If you don’t know the song, here’s a video from 2015 where he’s joined by Lowcountry Voices onstage after a mass shooting in Charleston, S.C. Or watch his original video from way back in 1991.

“Shed a little light, O Lord,” the chorus repeats. I know many of us are looking for the light right now when the news and times seem filled with darkness. And I am grateful for each of you and your many acts of love, witness, service, care, and kindness you undertake.

What we can do as individuals seems so insufficient and insignificant under the great weight of need all around us. And if I think I need to make an impact as large as Martin Luther King’s, well that feels impossible, and I’m tempted to talk myself out of trying at all, knowing I’m going to fail. And yet, the wisest spiritual teachers over the centuries invite us to change the world beginning with changing ourselves.

For nearly 60 years I was an insomniac who fretted in the dark, worrying about all the bad that could happen because I couldn’t see. And then in summer of 2020, I saw the comet Neowise in the night sky. Now, when it’s clear and the moon isn’t drowning out the stars, I often stand outside into the wee hours of morning, noticing the light and movement in the heavens, watching planes and satellites travel, listening for sounds I’m learning to identify (seals, seagulls, herons), using tools (mirrorless camera & wide angle lenses) to reveal all the beauty that exists beyond human sight.

I’ve changed. And in that change, I’m able to share a bit of the wonder and beauty I experience with you through my photos and writing a bit about how I’ve created them. For me, making images of the night sky is a spiritual practice as much as it is a technical practice. I’m in the present moment, not worried about the state of the country, the ill health of loved ones, or the threats to our environment (well, except for light pollution and the terrible impacts it has on all species, which I try to simply notice and let go while photographing.)

Thursday night was beautifully clear and the little crescent moon set in the early afternoon, so I bundled and spent hours on my balcony taking photos. Heeding James Taylor’s call to “shed a little light,” here are some of my favorite images of night.