Fireflies are fascinating little creatures.
Growing up in Chicago suburbs, catching fireflies(or lightning bugs as we called them) was a summer tradition. We’d often collect jars during the days and spend our evenings catching fireflies and filling the jars with them. We’d go about playing our nightly games.
Here’s my blog post that talks about a lot of the summer neighborhood games we used to play:
https://learningisawayoflife.com/summer-games/
After our games were over and we were ready to head home for the night, we’d release our fireflies and watch in fascination as they flitted about, happy to be free.
After college, I moved further north to southeast Wisconsin. Living right by Lake Michigan, for some reason, we didn’t have fireflies near my house.
I didn’t really notice at first that they were lacking.
One evening, while visiting my parents in the Chicago area, we were sitting outside and their yard was all aglow with the flickering lights of these marvelous creatures.
Thus, we began the collection of catching these fireflies with our daughter. Oh, how her face would light up when she saw them!
Watching these tiny creatures mesmerize my daughter was a highlight of many summer evenings for me.
I often associate fireflies with a sense of exploration. Not only was my daughter’s first instinct when she saw one to follow it, but so was mine. We would chase them, exploring the natural night world. This led to a natural curiosity to see where the firefly would go and what it would do.
Magical creatures
Fireflies are magical and created many different scenes in stories that my daughter wrote.
Some days she would put on her pretty little fairy costume and flitter around dancing, pretending she was living outside with the fireflies.
Picturing fireflies shining with fairies flitting around often created a magical scene in my mind.
Our recent move away from the lake has re-introduced these magical creatures into my life.
These magical fairy/firefly scenes still come to my mind each evening as I sit outside.
Life as a parent can become so busy and scheduled that it can seem overwhelming at times.
Seeing a firefly reminds me to embrace the moment.
Have you ever heard the saying “a light bulb suddenly turned on” when someone had a great idea?
For me, instead of picturing a lightbulb when someone says this, I picture a firefly and its brilliant shine.
A firefly can symbolize inspiration and imagination, which seems to define childhood.
Fireflies shine from the inside out, just like each one of our children(and even we as adults) do.
It’s so important to nurture this inner shine in each of our children.
Fireflies can also represent hope.
One can often feel alone and dark; or like a failure.
Then there is one bright flicker of light and it can illuminate our sense of hope.
A firefly can be that light of hope.
Hope that things will work out for the best. Hope for a brighter future for our children.
Fireflies are a great reminder to sit back and enjoy the simple things in life.
Summer is a short season.
Childhood is a short season.
Both need to be embraced and enjoyed.
Next time you see a firefly, I challenge you to sit back and relax and decide what a firefly represents to you.
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
FUN FACT:
The phenomenon of fireflies flashing in unison only happens in 2 places in the world: Southeast Asia and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee.
I absolutely loved this post on fireflies. Nature teaches us so much and I really enjoyed the way you weaved a lovely life lesson into your story. Thank you.
Thank you!!