Where I live, it’s the shortest day of the year and the longest night.
Something cranks to a slower, slower, slower pace….
….and like a huge gigantic ball rolling, it comes to a pause.
Then, time to turn back again the other way.
The atmosphere is dark in the morning, dark at night. Lights are hung all about in the city, some people going a little more crazy than others.
OK, a lot more crazy. (Have you seen the house on such-and-such street with a scene so bright you’ll need sunglasses?)
I was going to write about jealousy today, because when I get at least three people writing me letters about a topic, and what to do about it, I know it’s time to visit that story.
But for the weekend, I give you this poem for now. Because it fits so well with the celebration of light, dark, returning, going away, moving in, moving out.
Maybe jealousy fits into all this as well.
Jealousy on Monday. OK?
Meanwhile…..in celebration of what is dark, remember this.
If you have the thought “it’s too dark” or “I want more light”….
….notice the turnarounds. Notice who you would be without the belief it should be brighter than it actually is in this moment.
Can you find an important reason it shouldn’t?
I can.
Out of the darkest seasons in my heart, like the death of a friend, addiction, cancer, father dying, a broken heart, change, house lost, money lost, neglect, sadness, grief, unhappiness….
….came the most exquisite light.
Totally unexpected. A surprise. Little things, little examples. Big examples. Freedom from control. Freedom from sleep. Awareness of this precious moment, right now.
See if you can also find benefits or advantages for why that darkness occurred in your life in the past.
It doesn’t mean you have to like it, not at all.
It’s only noticing the freedom when you question that it was a complete tragedy, something to fear, something to resist.
“When your eyes are tired the world is tired also. When your vision has gone no part of the world can find you. Time to go into the dark where the night has eyes to recognize its own. There you can be sure you are not beyond love. The dark will be your womb tonight. The night will give you a horizon further than you can see. You must learn one thing. The world was made to be free in. Give up on all other worlds except the one to which you belong. Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you. ” ~ David Whyte
Much love, Grace