What does sunlight say when it comes in through a window or one of the stained glass windows or when patterns of both light and shadow are cast on a sunny day when the sky is without clouds? One could be somewhere else, not at the present location, imagining somewhere in the future or a giant palace. Some will see a quiet place of high grasses, sunlight at an angle touching creating high lights pushing through into a lazy world of sleep and wanting to be somewhere in a created fantasy. There is a fire in the sunlight as if the previous incarnation of time was burned away, and a new light was born to bring new ways to a tired world. The coolness of the morning is everywhere, like walls of colored Plexiglas reflecting the sun. Imagine a pure blue sky of the serenity of summer, suddenly seeing a vast desert with strange or familiar buildings from childhood, or seeing a massive landscape of hills with grass reflecting the sunlight, hills stronger than the earth. Think about sunlight entering through an old window, a window with many memories of rays of light hitting ceramic and glass objects on a table with books, pens, things of leather, and half-eaten food. The sunlight could be saying something more about a more profound life’s journey for the man, woman, and family that owns that old worn-out place. Any story can be conjured, even just sitting in the sun. If one has a great imagination, one may see words, images, and stories being played out as if they are on film, with some music thinking about an imagined past that probably never existed. Looking into the water, perceiving something more profound, perhaps the observer may not be able to grasp, but there is something there until it can be figured out. Within those water hit by light, there might be oscillating abstract images as flowing colors; this has (is) been seen on water reflecting things in the surrounding world.
Sunlight’s reflection can play with the imagination through thoughts of art, the interplay of shapes with subtle hues. These vibrant, intense colors had overwhelmed the eyes then attention turned to less dominant shades. The light that touches everywhere brings the imagination to a higher plane of looking beyond reflections. These reflections can create something in a painting, photograph, film, or poem. For the writer, the sunlight reflections are an exercise in written descriptions, which take the reader into dreams they never entered.
On different days sunlight at various times has something to say, light that hits with intensity on a leaf, a garden conveys the power of heat, and the sun brings life. Far away against a blue sky, there was a white tower in the art Deco style; there were perhaps words of sadness but also of vanity that it had seen so much in the past. At an angle, buildings have three dimensions. One face of the building is to the sun another part is in shadow. There is something brilliant and stark as if there is an ancient majesty that goes along with it. The buildings are reminiscent of something old, and something has gone away.
How is sunlight defined? There are probably a large number of thoughts that define what sunlight means. Sunlight has a purity from the heavens in the morning, again through stained glass windows; there is something about the glow of hues and images. Imagine the warmth of light coming onto the face, creating memories of tall glass arched windows, the ocean, and pools that reflect the sky.
Sunlight doesn’t necessarily impart a sky without clouds. That’s a sunny day. The day being spoken about is a cloudy day when it begins to rain, and there is still sunlight, but it’s hazy. It’s the time of day, but the sun’s rays can’t be seen too well, but there is light. There is magic on an overcast, rainy day. It’s a time for reflection; this imparts a newness; it recalls memories of wetness in a garden when one can feel deeper with nature. The rain hides the distractions of life, in a way canceling the evil, bringing back childhood memories. Look through a window to the outside to the distant rain and bright rain clouds, a time to reflect on cleaning the mind to think about things to create and do.
There is a sense of cleanliness when obstructed sunlight hits the sands of a beach, the whiteness of the sand reflecting off the sunlight. The beach is deserted. There is a sense of looking into the future, imagining things that might exist, or thinking of the nineteen twenties and thirties with Art Deco structures that might still exist. Then there is the incoming ocean, the sunlight giving it a deep blue, and the sounds of the tides that together create tranquility.
Think of shafts of light touching an ancient door, a dilapidated but beautiful building, or a shattered glass window. What is being said here is that sunlight in all its forms can convey everything possible to anyone.
Robert J. Matsunaga
