Introduction to a new series for 2025…and beyond?
Light, to me, is the first divine gift of the universe. In the middle of a career centered on light, I have more questions than answers, despite knowing more than ever before. Why, for example, do so many people suffer from light that hurts as much as it helps?
I write and sketch to learn. There is some mysterious power that allows me to come to a blank page with a question and leave with an answer. A few years later, when I bring the same question to a fresh blank page, the answer may be similar but is never the same. And so I begin again, from a new starting point, to explore how to share the gift of light with others. I have a plan, an outline, of a couple of dozen blog posts that point towards a chosen destination.
This time around, I am starting with a slightly different title: The Simple Gift of Light. The addition of the word “simple” will, I suspect, alter the trajectory of this series in surprising ways. I have a plan of where this series is going, but every other writing journey brought me to an unexpected ending. I have no idea what discoveries I will make, and that is exciting!
THE READER
There are a few things I want to think about before I get into the nuts and bolts of this series. First, I want to identify the target audience. My blog writing (as you know well if you have read my blog before) tends to ramble. Some posts are highly organized, some are stream-of-conscious spontaneous ravings. And who do I hope reads these posts? When I began some seven or eight years ago, I figured no one would read my posts, so I wrote for myself, for selfish reasons. I continue to be every bit as selfish as back then, but I also know that I write for different audiences. Sometimes I am writing to prospective clients or custom technology partners. Or I may write for aspiring lighting designers or architects.
Today I begin a series written for Ashleigh. Ashleigh (who does not really exist) lives in the average American home with three bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Ashleigh and their partner Casey have 2.5 children (well, let’s make that 3) and work, respectively, as a labor and delivery nurse and track coach/high school English teacher. They would say they live a good life, if a bit too busy and perhaps a bit too stretched financially.
They could be any of us.
Ashleigh’s work schedule rotates between 12-hour shifts, putting them home for a few days after an exhausting stretch at the hospital. They wake at different times throughout the week as their schedule demands, sometimes coming home just as the kids are headed to school, sometimes missing them entirely, sometimes leaving for work as they leave for school. When not working a weekend shift, the family keeps busy with sports games and art classes.
Ashleigh knows their home could me more comfortable; they watch enough home reno shows to be inspired but getting past the knowledge gap and financial gap is tough. So they come home, try their best to relax, struggle to get adequate rest, feel drained in the morning, and sometimes feel like they are just barely making it through the day.
Why Ashleigh? Because the gift of light can help them, if we can make it truly simple.
THE WRITER
Secondly, I want to make clear that I am just an average lighting designer. I do not think other designers need to use my methods or processes or words because I am a better designer; at this point in my career I know there are designers at heights I will never reach. That is fine with me (it was not always) because now I do have something that might be worth sharing: an accessible approach to the simple gift of light. Call me the Swiss Army knife of lighting designers. If you want the Wustoff Santoku, I may not be your guy.
So if this is your first post and you are starting down the rabbit hole, please do not expect to see photos of the most glamourous Manhattan penthouses or read about international award-winning projects. That is not really me (though our team would be happy to help you with your penthouse, if that’s your thing). Instead, I can only promise this: I will do my best to share the extraordinary power of light in ways that you – and Ashleigh – can find useful.
(Don’t worry, I do know more than a little about the subject. Check out the company I founded if you are interested in checking up on me.)
LIVE BETTER
This entire series and perhaps this entire blog, is dedicated to helping others live better lives through the power of light. I will dig into four major benefits and four lighting zones over a series of posts that may easily take me a year to write. And, as I write this introduction, I also intend to write a series of more practical tips for aspiring designers and DIYers. Note that I used the word intention. I have a lot of them, and only a fraction become reality. So hang in there.
WAKE GENTLY
There are countless benefits that light can deliver, but I am going to focus on four: light can help you wake gently, move with energy, relax easily, and rest deeply. I believe these are benefits Ashleigh would love and I suspect you will too.
After a bit more on the sacred nature of light, I will dig into how light can help us wake gently. There is no need to trigger a panic response with an alarm clock every morning (yes, it is called an alarm because that is what it causes). Harsh overhead lighting is not what our bodies want. Gently growing light can help you wake as our ancestors did – or as tent campers still do. Your body will thank you and your day will be off to a much better start.
MOVE WITH ENERGY
Later on, I will dig into how light can help us move with more energy, focus clearly on our tasks, perhaps even boost our memory and test scores. Our body responds to light with alertness and cognition and a host of other biological processes, but only when our body gets the right light. As you can guess, Ashleigh spends a lot of their time inside their home, at the hospital, and in the car in between. They are not getting the light they need during the day. Not by a long shot.
RELAX EASILY
As evening begins, our bodies need signals from light to begin the long wind-down towards sleep. Too often our imaginary reader, Ashleigh, leaves the lights on until it is time to sleep. Sudden darkness does not lead to sudden rest. Our first response will be more like panic, and we had enough of that from our alarm clocks already. Sit around a campfire in the woods and you will soon be ready for bed. Why can’t we have that feeling at home, indoors?
REST DEEPLY
Finally, I will attempt to help Ashleigh – and all of us – rest deeply at night. There are some surprising research studies in this field: sleeping with a little bit of light has been shown to elevate heart rates and delay blood sugar regulation and it appears that we need a certain amount of light in the mornings to sleep the best that evening. I will dig into some of the benefits of darkness as we look for solutions that help us get the regenerating sleep we need.
That’s enough for now. If you are interested in waking gently, moving with energy, relaxing easily, and resting deeply, then stick around as I work my way through this series. We will find answers together.