A Network of Lights

By Martin Thoolen,
Published on 4 December 2025.
A 2 minute read

During my travels around the world, I find inspiration in unexpected encounters that I'd love to share with you. Sometimes you even have to move away to get closer. This time: 'A Network of Lights'.

Some places and times give you more meaning than others. This time, I'm taking a little trip closer to home, to a park near where I live in the Netherlands. Not far away, still it brought me a miracle. How close travel and a dull (natural) place can bring you light and inspiration. Take a look:

Sometimes I like to sit alone in nature. And sometimes something miraculous happens, like yesterday. Imagine it's December, cold, seven degrees Celsius above zero. I'm sitting opposite a patch of withered grass, slightly illuminated in the dark by lampposts further away. Nothing special, you might think. Until I see something I never thought possible: I see a light slowly coming on on the withered blades of grass, then briefly going off again, only to come on again for a while. This continues for several minutes. Later, I see the same thing happening 40 centimeters away. Fifteen minutes later, the two original lights have moved ten centimeters apart.

In fact, they turn out to be two glowworms that only appear in the South and East of the Netherlands in June/July. But for once, they're across from me in the cold West.

I sat there, stunned, and my mind began to wander and ponder. Suddenly, I realized that, just like glowworms, we carry light within us. No matter how dark, cold, or artificially lit our surroundings, the original light shines within us as soon as we think, feel, and act from our hearts: from kindness, curiosity, compassion, forgiveness, equality, and community.

If we consciously live this more, we radiate the consciousness and light that makes ourselves and our immediate surroundings happier. One light ignites another. Before you know it, we unconsciously create a network of positive energy. Your immediate work or living environment becomes brighter, more enjoyable, and more effective.

What would you do differently in your immediate work environment if you practiced 10% more of these spirit values? Would you work more collaboratively and with kindness, curiosity, compassion, forgiveness, equality, and community, even if you encounter resistance?

If you do that, your light will shine more brightly.

Want to know how you can further shine your light and put it into practice in your work? Then download the free promotional book "Spirited Personal Leadership" (in PDF): https://martinthoolen.com/en/publicaties/

I hope you'll let your light shine more, so that together we can build a new network of light that makes the world around us a little brighter, more fun, and more beautiful.

© 2025: Martin Thoolen

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Martin Thoolen

My 30 years of professional experience as an awareness coach, clinical and organisational psychologist has enabled me to help thousands of clients in Personal or Collective Leadership. Both groups and individuals, in coaching sessions, training courses, leadership development and organisation development programs, retreats and seminars.
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