When I think of myself as a streamer, I think of lights. Each streamer is a lamp, and some, are those huge ones that illuminated stadiums, some are the street lamps guiding paths, some are the disco lights of large friendly social spaces. All sorts of many different lights.
Myself, I think, is a lantern in wood cabin near a quiet forest and field (a very western imagery, despite me being thoroughly Asian). Something like the one in this photo.
It lights up a cozy space for family and friends, and any who comes in and stays a while. The lantern itself (me, not the one in the photo) runs on limited fuel and needs replenishing ever so often. It tries hard to keep steady but sometimes it gets a little excitable, sometimes a little dim and not energetic. Not the most reliable, but it tries.
The cabin is out and away from cities, far from people. Somehow people do come by, but they leave quickly, for one reason or another. A few visits time and again, and their presence makes the lantern to burn a little brighter, a little warmer and a little longer.
The lantern wishes to stay lit for those few who, for reasons the lantern does not understand, comes back to the cabin. Sometimes the lantern wonders, is there anything that can be done to get more people to come by or stick around more? Maybe, it has some assets it could make use of, but the lantern is a little stubborn about changing to become something else it is not, and for people coming for the wrong reason.
So the lantern will keep burning its little flame for the little cabin and its precious few. Maybe the cabin will be decorated a little at times, maybe more tidying could be done here and there, or a little more features added… but the lantern will not change.
Photo Credit: Amber Wolfe
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