The Firefly Effect
The Firefly Effect
Every summer, when I was a kid, the woods across the road from my parents’ house would be alive with fireflies. Banks of them, like fairy lights, would light up the trees at night. Thousands upon thousands of them magically shining and twinkling in the forest. Walking at night along the path was an incredible experience.
I recently learned that the signalling a firefly does as an adult is for communication and mostly to find mates. As larvae or juveniles, it's a warning signal to ward off predators, like snails and slugs. When used for communication in mating, one firefly will light up, and others of the same species (apparently, there are actually thousands of different firefly species!) close by will light up in response. Many of the flashing patterns are male/female call-and-response patterns.
Essentially, one individual lights up, and then so do the others in response. They light each other up.
I thought this was so lovely; reciprocal lightening up.
We also called them lightning bugs rather than fireflies when I was little.
It got me thinking that we as humans are the same. Our light is contagious.
It reminds me of a quote by Sir Thomas Browne. "Life is a pure flame, and we live by an invisible sun within us."
When we allow ourselves to lighten up, others around us lighten up as well. When we let that sun burning away at our core to shine out, others around us begin to shine.
It can be something very simple, like being in a good mood and smiling at the grocery store or the coffee shop. Your smile and lightness of being will be contagious. I often, without thinking about it, have an agenda to leave a place lighter than when I arrived. I smile. Others smile. I crack a joke. People laugh. It seems so small, but it can mean the world to someone else.
The best part is that it's contagious.
All it takes is for one of us to light up, and our light will get passed on through countless others throughout the day. Just like fireflies flashing at each other in the night, lighting the forest paths, we each light up the paths and ways of life for others.
If you like, try it on as a fun game: how many people can you light up today?
And if you would like more fireflies in your yard, apparently, you are supposed to leave some leaf litter around because that is where the young larvae live. No leaf litter, no fireflies.
With Love,
Sara Joy
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