We got a few inches of snow here in our part of Iowa this last week, and the night following the snowstorm I took the dog out for a little walk after dark. It was brilliant outside. The Waning Gibbous was at 99.1%, so maybe not quite a full moon but close, and the sky was clear enough for it to shine like it had its own light source within. As we walked (well, I walked…Marty bounded, as she often does in snow), I thought about how powerful reflections can be. When there’s snow covering the ground, and there’s a big moon reflecting the sun’s light, those millions of snowflakes reflect the light too, and all those reflections brighten up the night so much that outside of town you can see for miles. I took the picture at the top of this page at about 7:00pm that night–more than two hours after the sun went down (also props to my new phone camera–it’s way better than my old one, but it couldn’t have produced this image if there hadn’t been so much light).
Similarly, when you encounter someone who exudes positivity, it’s hard not to smile in their presence. This article on the National Center for Biotechnology Information website even talks about facial mimicry and emotional contagion, and how the emotions and facial expressions of the people around us can affect the expressions we make and how we feel. In my experience, that’s basic psychology–the attitudes you exhibit are often reflected back to you. I’ve always found that, when interacting with humans, a general attitude of respect and goodwill towards others has usually resulted in a general attitude of respect and goodwill back to me. That’s not to say that my attitude of respect and goodwill isn’t genuine–just that I prefer to go through life believing that people are worthy of respect and goodwill. Obviously I don’t always succeed at being positive, and sometimes even when I’m joyful the people I encounter…aren’t so full of joy. But I think having that intention makes a big difference both in how you see the world and how the world sees you.
And it’s not just attitudes that this applies to–ideas can be reflected too. Song lyrics, the message in a movie, tv show, or book–all can absolutely affect how we think and what we (consciously or unconsciously) put out into the world. Even when a good idea isn’t yours to start with, if you find value in it and share it (giving credit where it’s due, of course), then others may share it, and eventually, that message can be amplified into our collective consciousness to make a true impact. Don’t get me wrong–reflections aren’t always positive. Like when you’re in a bad mood and everyone you come into contact with seems to be grumpy too. You might be emanating negativity without even realizing it, and that’s being reflected back to you. We’re all going to have bad times, and I definitely think we need to feel ALL of our feelings so we can work through them. I just think that when we take the time to deal with the negatives, we can get back to the business of spreading light.
I guess I like to think of it this way: If you can’t always be the sun (with your own internal source of light), be the moon and reflect the light that finds you. And if you can’t be the moon (and reflect enough of someone else’s light to be bright enough to make a difference on your own), be a snowflake and reflect whatever light you can. And don’t forget that there’s power in numbers–if all of us are out there reflecting the light that comes to us, like those snowflakes do, the world will be brighter for all of us.
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