Three gentle ideas for giving and caring this Christmas - A Monthly Moment of Light - December 2025
Dear all
The holiday season can feel very different depending on where you are and what life is asking of you. For some, it’s a time of joy and connection; for others, it can bring moments of sadness, pressure, or reflection. But even as the nights draw in, we have an opportunity to think of the light we can offer to those who are struggling.
In this edition of The Shining Light Project’s monthly newsletter, Benjamin shares three themes that feel especially meaningful right now: supporting those in need, choosing meaningful gifts and looking after yourself.
A new team, our first film and what’s ahead - A Monthly Moment of Light - November 2025
Dear all,
After seven years of running workshops in schools and businesses, The Shining Light Project is now ready to share our work more widely than ever. And that begins with our very first newsletter!
(Almost) Introducing our Founding Team
We recently assembled a new team of fourteen people (yes, fourteen!) This is our founding team - a group of committed volunteers united by a simple goal: to spread ideas and tools that help positive change happen. We will introduce the team in the new year.
The first big milestone with this new team? We will be launching our first film: “It’s Never Too Late: The Story of Mama Arlene and Hope Made Real”
What's it like being a dad?
A friend of mine recently asked me, What's it like being a dad? What a wonderful question - and one that, after almost five years of joyful parenthood, I hadn't been asked. My friend's question, and how joyful I felt in responding, inspired me to put pen to paper (and then hands to keyboard!)
What's it like being a dad?
Every moment is enough to fill my heart for a lifetime.
A Saint in the Shadows
I hope Harry’s story reminds you that you have a gift the world needs. That wherever you find yourself, whether you feel content, searching, or lost, there is always hope. Sometimes we are the ones who carry the light for others. And sometimes, we are the ones who need it. What my Grandad taught me is that no matter how hard life gets, there is always hope. Give as often as you can. And when you need help, don’t be ashamed to ask for it. We are not meant to do this alone.
I want a daughter while I'm still young, I want to hold her hand and show her some beauty before this damage is done
I want a daughter while I'm still young; I want to hold her hand and show her some beauty before this damage is done. A short article about the hope of building a better world for our children.
Light in the face of darkness: The path to becoming a Samaritan
Last year one of the most precious people in my life committed suicide. It felt even more brutal because he was such a beautiful person that gave so much of himself to others, including me. His wife and three children survived him. Over the past three months, I have trained to become one of the 22,000 Samaritan volunteers. This article is about light in the face of darkness.
Replacing the doom-loop with Pollyana!
If you were to read, watch, or listen to any media over the past decade, you would be hard-pressed to feel as though things are getting better. In fact, it seems impossible at this point for any person to engage with the narratives in the media and think anything other than the feeling that the world is getting worse.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
What makes life worth living in the face of death?
As we begin a new year, I am immensely grateful for the book, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. At the age of 36, on the verge of completing a decade's training as a neurosurgeon, Paul was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. He passed away a year later. The epilogue by his wife, Lucy, had me in tears for almost all of its thirty pages.
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live
Imagine what the world would feel like if we all gave ourselves to our community instead of our computers one day a week! In this short article, I turn to the great wisdom of George Bernard Shaw to reframe how we think about well-being and the workplace.
The joy of serving others
I was walking to the gym the other day, and the wind had blown four recycling containers into the road. Usually, I would grab the boxes, but I wanted to see this play out (a kind of nerdy social experiment). How many cars would weave through the boxes as opposed to getting out and moving the boxes back to the pavement? In this article, I explore the joy in serving others.