leaving a light on for you

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Last week, I read this article about people who are putting up their Christmas lights as a sign of hope during this pandemic. Naturally, there was a part of me that really loved this idea — I mean, lights? Hope? They’re singing my song, man.

But there was something in me that hesitated. And I couldn’t figure out why.

Over time, more and more friends began doing things in their windows that felt really lovely — one friend put up her Christmas lights. Another is lighting a candle in her window in honour of first responders. And still, I hesitated, until I saw this lovely installation that another friend did, and it finally dawned on me why I was hesitating, and how getting creative with lights still resonated with me.

See, the thing is, I love Christmas. It’s my absolute favourite holiday. And I’ve been worried that if I put my lights up now, they won’t feel as special at Christmastime (especially if, God help us, our lights are still up). Like my candle-lighting friend and my heart-installation friend, I needed to do something that was about light, but needed to make it feel really different from Christmas.

Enter neon.

It’s not really neon, obviously — neon signs are not cheap — but I found a little LED “neon” light on Amazon that wasn’t too expensive. I was looking for one that said “peace,” but couldn’t find it. No matter. “Love” is close enough.

My little light arrived this morning, just as the Mayor of Houston issued a stay-at-home order for Houston and Harris county. I immediately hung it in my window, and went outside to take a look. It’s not as lovely and exuberantly joyful as my friends’ displays, but think it still makes the point:

To those who pass: the people inside this home love you. And we are with you. And we are all in this together.

Here’s to leaving a light on for each other.