We are moving into the longest day of the year in Minnesota, light brightening our days and often, lifting our spirits and mood. I know I like it. But I don’t often think about what light is. However, for thousands of years, humans have pondered the nature of light, pushing and pulling all areas of art, science, religion, philosophy, and play to try to understand its nature and power.
Finally, we know light dances in paradox.
When scientists study light and expect it to act as a particle, it is a particle.
When scientists study it as a wave, it is a wave.
Of course, this is impossible because a particle has mass, and a wave does not.
One scientist said light becomes the answer to the question we ask.
Thus, the questions we ask form reality.
This has significant implications for our lives.
The questions we ask ourselves have an impact on the answers we get.
Am I lovable? Am I worthwhile? Am I important? Can I honor my gifts and talents even if they go against the culture (think gender expectations)? How do I prove I am lovable, worthwhile, important?
More questions: Am I enough? Does my family’s opinion of me enclose me in expectations or break me out of culture’s definitions? Do I have to prove myself superior to others in order to accept myself? Do I need to control others to hide my shame? Do I have the right to grow and change throughout my entire life and not accept a rigid sense of personality?
Can I respect people who are completely different from me and still feel safe?
What did I love to do when I was 8 years old, and why don’t I continue to do these things?
What are my dreams for my life? What are my goals? Do I need dreams? Do I want goals? Particle or wave? Our questions create the answer.
We, too, are a scientific paradox, a creature that can observe our own thought process, challenge it, and change ourselves.
Are we a particle or a wave? As receivers of light on this planet Earth, it depends on our question. And the impossible answer is, we are both.