I must say, at thirty six years old, I never thought I would be a “lamp guy”. Well apparently I am. About 4-5 months ago I wandered into a Goodwill Store and purchased a nice, bright, and sturdy lamp for my office. 

Much like the rug from The Big Lebowski… It really tied the room together.

Fast forward to yesterday morning…

I come into my office, placed my belongings on my desk and go to turn my lamp on like I do every morning. Much to my surprise, the lamp did not come on.

My first thought was the obvious one… I must need to change the light bulb.

That is exactly what I did. I went to the supply closet here at the office, grabbed a fresh light bulb from the box and went back to my office to plug in…

NOTHING. HAPPEND.

I then proceed to try and trouble shoot the situation.

-Check the outlet

-Dissect the lamp to check the insides and the wiring.

Still… NOTHING. HAPPEND.

I asked a co-worker to assist in the lamp debacle that I found myself in. 

Our conclusion was that the lamp itself was DEAD. 

I did what I felt I had to do. I threw the lamp in the dumpster. A burial of sorts.

The feelings that were going through my head were frustration and sadness. I loved that lamp. There was a part of my office that is now missing. A hole that needed to be filled.

And then… I became aware (thanks to another coworker) that the “NEW” light bulb that I retrieved from the supply closet could have possibly been a bad bulb itself.

In disbelief, I went next door, to a different office that contains a lamp, removed their perfectly good light bulb and did what every sane person would do. 

You see, the love I have for that lamp runs deeper than a man can explain. It quite literally broke my heart when I tossed it in the dumpster. 

So I found myself crossing my fingers, taking a deep breath, and prayed to the lamp gods that this bulb was in fact a GOOD bulb justifying my previous actions.

Once the “Good” light bulb was secured, with a lump in my chest, and a sweaty palm I turned the knob. 

Wide eyed I stared straight into the soul of the bulb just knowing the outcome... 

After-all I had prayed to the lamp gods.

To my frustration, a light appeared. One SO bright that I imagined this would in fact be the same brightness that would appear around Jesus himself if he had appeared in that very same room.

I BURIED MY OLD LAMP ALIVE!!

That feeling of frustration and sadness changed to guilt and shame. What had I done!?

There was no going back. She was long gone and covered in dumpster water.

I did what any self respecting person would do when faced with a situation like this. I had to go pull myself up from the bootstraps and find a way to get that happiness back in my life.

I went back to Goodwill!

On the search to fill that hole in my office that needs to be filled.

I found the lamp that I never new I needed. It’s as if the lamp gods did in fact answer my prayers in a surprising way.

There will never be any replacing the old lamp. That lamp did bring me joy for the last 4 months or so.

But take a look at that lamp! The curvature. The Je ne sais quoi!

This lamp not only ties the room together. It also signifies a fresh start. Something new!

I am looking forward to what the future holds for this lamp in my office. The best is honestly yet to come!

-Matt Webb