The Lamplighter's Story

January 18th, 2012 by Caroline Clarke, MBACP - Post-graduate Diploma

The lamplighter lives on a tiny planet. His job is to light a street lamp when it gets dark and put it out again when morning comes. Until recently things were rolling along just fine. The lamplighter slept at night and by day he relaxed. Now, though, the planet has started to spin faster than before and a day lasts only one minute. The lamplighter has barely lit the lamp before it is time to extinguish it again. Intent on sticking to the rules of his employment, the lamplighter frantically carries out his task with hardly a moment of rest or reflection in between.

The lamplighter is a character from Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s classic tale ‘Le Petit Prince’ (The Little Prince). Maybe something about his story feels familiar to you? Life seems to bump along ok for a while – perhaps even for years - until something new happens and suddenly it becomes unsettlingly difficult to stick to our old ways of doing things. Such changes might include the birth of a baby, divorce, deteriorating or improving health, starting work after a break, a change of career – anything that disrupts our usual routine in a significant way.

Were the lamplighter to take time out from his lamp-lighting duties for counselling, he might start to get a different perspective on what is going on. He might be challenged to explore the assumptions that lie behind his decision to carry on lighting and putting out the lamp:

*           What would happen if you stop following the rules?

*           Whose rules are they?

*           Do you agree with the rules?

Later, the lamplighter might move on to considering the choices he faces and his options for change. He could (as the little prince, a child who visits him on his planet suggests) abandon his post next to the street lamp and walk around the planet so that he always stays where the sun shines. Alternatively, he might decide to explore the merits of a move to a different, larger planet where he could share his tasks with other lamplighters. Or maybe, having considered these and other possibilities, the lamplighter might make an informed choice to continue as he is for now, lighting and then extinguishing the lamp every 60 seconds.

The decision would be his.