“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light.”

Harry Potter

Now that I’m getting excited about illustrations again, I thought it would be interesting to incorporate my thoughts, ideas, or even a little word play into my images. I thought of the word SHINE recently and wanted to see if I could express it visually… and my featured image is the result of this self-challenge.

I thought about how I had said that I wanted to quiet my mind, and then how I wanted to begin focusing my thoughts on “new life.” As I pondered these things, I began to think about whether or not changes in thought could actually turn a person around – from negativity and darkness, to positivity and light. I’m not talking about real depression or anything, as that is a serious matter. I’m talking about the normal “thought” modes we experience, and how patterns are formed.

It occurred to me that if I was sitting in a pitch dark room, no matter how long or hard I stared into that darkness – it would still be dark. I would never be able to see anything. The only way that I could change this would be the most obvious solution… I would need to turn on a light.

Maybe getting caught up in negative thinking is like staring into that pitch dark room, trying to see something. But unless we shine a light inside, we never will. All there will be is darkness.

It’s a bit of an analogy I suppose.

I think the point is that change normally occurs slowly, and there are often steps to take. Perhaps shining light into the darkness is just the first of many steps… but at least we’ll be able to see!

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Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed my illustration and thoughts…

Until next time,
-Janet

Side note: I found the quote by Harry Potter after writing my post, so it would appear that my thoughts aren’t too far off. That was a relief! Anyway, I’ll be working on my next image soon, and the word I’ve been thinking about is FLY. I have a cute little story to accompany it as well, and I hope that you’ll stay tuned.