Winter is well underway, Journeyer, and Seasonal Affective Disorder looms over many of our heads.
This post I wrote a year ago was wildly popular and I can only surmise it is because there are many thousands of us whose bodies don’t work quite right during those winter days and months of shortened daylight.
May you find some modicum of comfort and insight within, and please help spread hope by sharing with everyone you know!
Sending love, light, and healing energy as we wind down 2016 and look forward to a coming year of hope, healing, and happiness.
Healing and the Two Sides of Darkness
first published October 8, 2015
A few weeks ago the world experienced an uncommon Supermoon phenomenon, the total eclipse of a full moon.
The transition took place over my right shoulder while I watched a concert with three good friends.
How much better can it get, Journeyer? The only thing I can think of that would have topped it would have been to have our zoom lens camera and tripod with me. One friend of mine captured some of the most magnificent images right at her house!
I’ve thought about that #HappyHappens event numerous times in these past few weeks, Journeyer. I titled that last post Total Eclipse of the Heart. Sometimes our life feels that way, doesn’t it? Sometimes we feel as if a shadow is blocking out all light from the world around us? Our days and nights are shrouded something akin to a black cloud. Everything looks dark.
And when everything looks dark, we wonder if we’ll ever, ever see the sun again.
I know this feeling, Friend, for I’ve sat in that dark room. I’ve pounded the floor and begged for light. I’ve kicked in doors and I’ve clawed the air in my sleep. Whereas I was able to watch the total eclipse unfold in a matter of hours, grief’s darkness moves much more slowly and definitely transitions without the excitement of that universal wonder.
Here’s what I know for sure, Journeyer: Light is always, ALWAYS on each side of the darkness. ALWAYS.
And let me tell you, as someone who suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) that’s one of the things I never kid about: LIGHT.
So, what is light?
For me, light is the brightness cast off from the sun’s glow.
Light is being greeted by someone’s smile.
Light is present in a child’s laughter, any laughter, but it glows neon when a child giggles.
Light radiates out from every sincere hug. Notice how I say sincere. There really isn’t any light in those hugs where someone leans in from a few feet away, butt sticking out behind her as she pats your back and tells you it was good seeing you. If you’re going to hug someone, get in there and HUG someone.
Light is in the smell of a new puppy, the trained dog’s chase of a frisbie or shake of a paw, or the nuzzle from a tired old boy who can’t get up and romp anymore.
Light is in that unexpected sale merchandise and in the hunt for just the right gift.
Light is in paying it forward just as it should be when we give someone the gift of receiving something with graciousness…
Light is in the sparkle of a snowflake and the white blanket of that first snowfall and light is in that child’s face as he sticks out his tongue to catch those frozen forms falling from the sky.
Light is in the flicker of a candle and the arc of a shooting star…
Light is in each and every kiss.
But on either side of each of these things, Journeyer, is darkness.
Some days those we come in contact with are unhappy…
some days we don’t hear any laughter and there are no hugs…
some days the dog is dead tired or maybe even dead and sometimes he’s snarling because you stepped on his tail…
some days you’re a day late for those clearance sales or that special gift you’ve been eyeing is sold out…
some days people refuse our kindnesses and some days our efforts are not appreciated…
some days the snow dirties our house, our clothes, and our cars, and some days it derails us and lands us stranded in a ditch…
some days the candle burns out and we can’t see the shooting stars for the clouds…
And sometimes, when a loved one dies or moves away or we’re so mad we can’t see straight, our days are void of kisses…
But this is the beauty of life, just like Annie’s song, The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow, the sun does shine again.
We’ll see those smiles…
we’ll hear those giggles…
we’ll feel those nuzzles from some animal or another…
we’ll find the next sale and another special gift idea…
we’ll hear from someone how much we’ve moved her or made her life better…
we’ll wake up to a magical, white landscape on a day when we don’t have to be anywhere and can curl up with a good book and a hot drink and gaze out at nature’s beauty…
we’ll light another candle and the clouds will drift away, allowing us a clear view of the starlit sky…
we’ll realize we can blow kisses to heaven, send lipstick kisses in the mail, and, if we choose it, we’ll enjoy the fervor of kissing and making up…
This is another thing I know for sure, Journeyer: We cannot exist only in excitement for eventually we will burn ourselves out and we cannot thrive without rest and reflection.
When we allow ourselves to recognize these things, when we can acknowledge the merits of those transitions from light to dark and back to light, we have experienced growth and healing, Journeyer…
I’d love to hear about something that took you out of the darkness and into light, Journeyer. Share something in a comment below!
Until next time, yours in hope, healing, and happiness,