As I examined the wooded setting of Airy the RV in the photo above, I found pleasure in the breaking of dawn through the trees, as well as in the lit underbelly of the coach. Both types of lighting touched my mind’s eye and I asked why? One light protected me near the the RV, while the other protected my early morning drive from deer leaping, or hikers walking.

One light is man-made and artificial; the other is God made and natural. Jill Harness noted on hunker.com that there are several differences between natural and artificial light, between firelight and candle light, and fluorescent bulbs, flashlights, or sunlight. There are a surprising number of differences between light sources found in nature versus electronic sources.

The intensity of light, the duration of light, and

the amount of light is only under your control with artificial lighting.

I made a note to myself to ask “Do I have control of my life’s light?”

Jill further explained that natural and man made light also varies “in the colors of light they emit”.

Sunlight emits all colors of the rainbow, including plenty of blue …throughout most of the day. In the morning and evening, the sunlight must pass through more layers, scattering the light and resulting in more red and orange light getting through. Firelight is almost always higher in reds and oranges than blues.

On the other hand, the majority of artificial light doesn’t have a rainbow of colors and always stays the same throughout the day. LED and fluorescent lights tend to have a lot of blue or yellow light… Incandescent lights… have a lot of red and very little blue.

Jill Harness

I made another note to myself to ask:

• Do I have a color preference for my life’s light?
• Do I care whether or not my life’s light is natural or electronic?
• Should my life’s light be a composite of layers?
• Should I scatter my light?

Lighting can affect your health and sleep patterns, and helps your body produce vitamin D and absorb calcium. Plants use light as food; light helps plants grow. Different colors of light impact aspect’s of a plant’s growth.

Most plants require full spectrum light like the sun in order to properly grow, as different colors of light…, e.g., most plants need blue and red light in order to flower.

Jill Harness

I continued to reflect upon my life’s light: If I want inner growth towards gratitude, am I making choices in life in order to flower? Surely, my life’s light is as important as a plant, requiring a full spectrum of nourishment and different colors of light in my life?

The two lights in the simple camping photo are symbolic I think.

The topic of life’s light makes one mindful.

There are always choices we make each and every day: real or fake hair color, plastic surgery or natural, artificial or normal, manufactured or untouched.

On my journey towards gratitude, I prefer the full spectrum of colors of the rainbow for

my life’s light . I hope to scatter my inner light. How ’bout you?

This is #gratitudeultra. See the post on February 28, 2021 for definitions of categories of gratitude.