Light - what on earth do I write for this one?

The clue in our prompt was Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Light. Now growing up in Belfast life was very much segregated so I had very little experience of other religions. I am from a catholic family, I went to a catholic school and lived in a catholic area so up until I started working at 16 I knew very few people from another faith.

When I moved to Huddersfield for uni and then moved to Leeds with Himself my eyes were really opened to all the different faiths and cultures that exist in England. I remember driving through Bradford a few years ago around the time of Diwali and it was amazing. Almost every lampost and building along this small stretch of the city was decorated in the most colourful array of lighting features and I loved it. It just felt like the area was glowing and it was so lovely to see a community celebrating their culture without opposition from someone else. I hope one day the same can happen in Belfast and each community can appreciate and celebrate each other's differences without trouble kicking off.

For me light represents warmth and friendship. The heat and glow from a burning fire, the flicker of a candle, a sunrise/sunset, gathering together to watch a fireworks display or the simple turning on of a switch to light up a room.

Without light what would we have?

Image courtesy of http://www.stow.ac.uk