Embracing the Darkness
by Kathleen Philben, Ph.D,
This is the season of darkness and light. We are acutely aware of shorter days and earlier nights. With the winter solstice we experience the shortest day of the year, the day with the least amount of sun and the most time of darkness. We hear people bemoan the fact that the sun sets so early in the evening. Darkness is judged to be bad, or at least as undesirable. We can’t wait to have longer days, more light.
I would like to focus a minute on a different attitude toward darkness. Rather than fighting the darkness and focusing on the negative aspects, I would like to work on embracing the darkness and seeing the positive side. More darkness gives us reason to slow down, to spend more time indoors tending to home and family. We can concentrate on making warmth and light inside our homes in contrast to the dark and cold outside. Darkness can help us slow down, become more contemplative, less frantic.
We are often looking ahead or behind, wishing for a return to summer or looking forward to spring. Instead, this season let us try to live in the present moment. Embrace the darkness and learn what it has to teach us. Savor an evening walk in the dark with its stillness, or relax by the fireplace being grateful for its warmth. Let us strive to be at peace with the days and nights as they are given to us. Let us live in the present.