I am a light chaser. Sunrays heal my soul whilst darkness chokes me like a chicken bone lodged in my throat. So when I see the sun straining in the daytime winter sky, I secretly cheer it on.

For the Northern Hemisphere, the darkest day of the year is well behind us. As the days grow longer, I always wait for the moment when it really hits me. At first, it’s so gradual, you barely notice it. But then one day the sun lingers just a little longer than you remember.

That is when you know the light is returning once again.

It smacked me upside the head just the other day as I rounded a familiar corner on my way to the gym. The clouds dripped tendrils of sunlight from sky to Earth. The ropes of light clung to the grass as if to touch it for the first time. I smiled inwardly as I realized this was a defining moment in which light would return to my life.

Chasing the light in Central Europe can be an arduous task. You have to travel far to find it on some winter days. The mountains seem to have a monopoly on sunshine as they rise up above the fog line, imperious and impervious to the cloaked valleys below them.

Maybe that is why I like the mountains so much. They get their share of snow, but they also soak up the light, bouncing it off rock surfaces and filtering rays through their trees. The mountains play with the light, keeping it for themselves when the sun passes behind a zenith.

Even if physical light has yet to emerge where you live, you can always spread your heartlight to yourself and others.

May there always be light in your world, no matter where you find yourself to be.