Dewdrops of Light

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
-Mary Oliver

This morning, encouraged by the interplay of colors, shapes, and textures in the sky, I sat at river's edge to photograph the sunrise.

 
The sunrise was lovely enough on its own. However, as I sat waiting for it to evolve as the sun floated higher behind the trees, I noticed I was surrounded by spider webs that were beginning to glisten and gleam in the expanding sunlight. So I turned my attention toward them.

And then I noticed beads of dew shimmering in the sunrise, clinging to bent plant stems, capturing inverted images of their immediate surroundings, and reflecting the sunlight

...as spider webs, both at river's edge and in the field, continued to glisten.

It occurred to me that the spiders in their webs, the clinging dewdrops, and I were dwelling together in this moment, collecting and reflecting the light, each in our own way. What a great way to spend a sunrise - or a lifetime, for that matter!

The dewdrops continued to capture my attention - and this image in particular:

I wondered: What is it about this image that calls to me? Something about the dewdrops in the foreground and the presence of the river...

And then I realized:

Each tiny drop of dew comes from the river/ocean and will return to it.

However, here it is in this moment manifesting as an individual water droplet, with its own beautiful shape. Examining the dewdrops close up, I noticed that each carried its own little world inside of it, its own (somewhat skewed) representation of the world around it.

And each dewdrop was radiating light.

If I were to return to the river's edge right now as the noon sun crests in the sky, those tiny dewdrops would no longer be there. By now, they would have evaporated or been absorbed, assuming their role in the great water cycle. However, I was blessed to experience them during their brief existence as individual dewdrops. What a precious opportunity it is for a drop of water to shine in the sun like that!

Sometimes I wonder how much of an influence one human being really can have on the world around him or her. When I get pulled into the drama of the world - and especially when I don't get enough sleep - I tend to shortchange myself and everyone around me by truncating the endless possibilities that could be engaged in this lifetime. However, witnessing those tiny dewdrops this morning awakened me and improved the quality of my day. They reminded me not only of the brief and precious nature of human life forms, but also of how one small entity can be a channel of blessings that brings more light into the world.

We need to allow the sunlight to shine through us and not grumble and groan our way through life. Maya Angelou offers this sage advice:

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.

If a dewdrop can make that kind of impression on me - well, just think what one human life can accomplish, and what we can do for one another if we allow the light to shine through us despite it all.

May each of us discover our own unique way to collect and reflect the light and engage the magic of this new day.

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© Susan Meyer and River Bliss, 2012-2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material, including all photos, without express and written permission from this blog’s author/owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Susan Meyer and River Bliss (www.riverblissed.blogspot.com) with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.