Light Worker

This week I want to talk a bit about the concept of “Light Workers”. It is a term I overhear regularly despite having little understanding of. So in order to make sense out of it, I thought I toss some ideas around and see what sticks.

The world of massage is rooted both in a pragmatic scientific worldview based on objective observations and a mystical way intuiting subjective phenomenons that can transgress the bounds of those observations. In other words, it's a combination of facts and feels. These two perspectives may seem like they should be in uncompromising opposition to each other. However, integrating these two realities allows us to have a more holistic attitude towards the world than if we were either lost in the new age carnival or imprisoned within peered reviewed data. Until recently these two worlds were much more merged. A classic example is Isaac Newton who invented calculus and was a mystic. There are many others who also traverse these two worlds. And why wouldn't there be many others? Both these traditions are based on curiosity, about trying to find some truth, whether it is external or internal to the self.

So giving the continuous dance between our objective observation and our subjective feeling, what exactly is a “lightworker”? Does light need to be worked? I would assume light just is and has no need for us to work it. Personally, my spider senses flare a bit when I hear someone describe themselves as a lightworker. Any time I hear someone describe themselves with a poorly defined sanctimonious title that can be self-administered, I seem to have some involuntary metaphoric eye roll response. That said there are enough people who resonate with the term "lightworker" that I want to find some value in what this marketing meme could be, rather than just dismiss it wholesale.

Let us start with our understanding of light. Light is defined by the shadows. We only know where light is by seeing where it is not. So I think it is fitting to understand lightwork in relation to shadow work. Shadow work is when we explore all the parts of our psyche that we hide from ourselves. The parts of our psyche that do not fit into the model of who we think we are. When we notice a common thread through many of our problems then perhaps we are receiving signs we should do some shadow work. We can take time to see what we are doing to facilitate those seemingly unrelated problems.

So my idea is light work should be the inverse of shadow work. If shadow work explores the darker aspects of ourselves then lightwork should explore the parts of reality we don’t wish to see in order to find what we can salvage there. I like to borrow an idea Bucky Fuller another scientist whose ideas were spiced with mythical thoughts to describe this. Bucky when not trying to replicate patterns found in nature to advance humanity said we should not fight what we do not like in the world. Instead, he advocated that we should examine the parts of the world we find unacceptable until we find the good that is done by those prickly aspects. Then he said we should find a way to bring that good into the world in a less destructive way. Instead of trying to suppress what we find unacceptable we should simply offer competitive alternatives. In this age when it's increasingly trendy to define ourselves by what we are against, I think this is advice should be heeded. We should all try to find some light in some of the more unpleasant realities of life. We should find ways to consciously collaborate with the world in ways that align with our ideals rather than simply condemn something.

To relate this concept to massage, I would say we need to listen to our pain and discomfort. All too often we (or at least myself) will try to banish any pain or discomfort when it arises, without properly examining it. Although in theory, the idea of pain-free life seems appealing those few people who are born without pain receptors are continuously challenge with not hurting themselves. Pain and discomfort in the body is a way that we orientate ourselves away from harm. If we can see pain as a means of avoiding harm then we can find better ways of avoiding harm than relying on pain sensations. By doing this we will have less pain and keep ourselves away from harm. And if that what light working is then we should all be our own lightworker

Anthony Bruni