Wisdom in the Dark
It’s uncomfortable feeling the darkness within the belly, leaking into the day.
The waking to news that frightens, angers, and confuses you. This world gone astray. There is a longing to seek the light to chase the darkness. As if sunshine might polish circumstances into something more palatable. Shaping the story into something you can live within.
Don’t be so quick to chase the dark away.
There is wisdom within the depths of your body’s response. The power of anger, leaking of tears, flutter in the belly. Wisdom that whispers “Something is out of whack.” Knocking you off balance, unsettling your peace.
Opening the door for the mind to spin its tales. Strengthening your position, whatever it may be.
Activating a fearful future landscape that devastates your current wellbeing. Despair leading to withdrawal in order to protect. Agitation readying for a fight against that which you can not bear. Confusion as to why your fellow humans think so differently than you.
All stories are false. All stories are true. It’s how you live your stories that matters.
What if the sorrow, fear, anger, or disillusionment arrived to invite you into a deep, honest exchange? To welcome you within your stories about how the world should be. So, you may meet the storyteller within you and begin a dialogue.
Sitting within the early morning darkness, candle burning, a cup of tea, a cozy blanket. Perhaps a journal.
Here, you begin the dive within to find that which creates this sorrow that tugs at every aspect of your being. It doesn’t take much to enter the conversation for sorrow has a voice and it spills over with the heartbreak that has been contained within the body and masked by the stories.
You listen as sorrow speaks its anguish that the humans of the world have lost their way.
It begins with evidence garnered from one day of darkness, yet soon spreads to evidence of harm in all directions around the globe, throughout history, upon the planet. Including the harm done to self with judgement, dismissal of voice, and alienation of worthiness. The sorrow cries, allowing despair, disappointment, disillusionment to join the conversation. Emptying, the conversation slows as the body quiets, calmer now as the sorrow has been given its path of movement.
The sun rises, bathing the body in light. As it always does after the dark.
Allowing the eyes to see the beneficial presence of humans. Seeking in the light of day all that is helpful, generous, creative, and beautiful. This luminosity reveals what may not be noticed in the dark. Yet, it serves not as a source to eradicate discomfort. Nor shape deeply felt fear into something unimportant. The brilliance of day also reveals all that you judge, back away from, and condone as wrong.
Don’t be so quick to choose the light.
It is the turning away from that which is hidden in the dark that leads to misunderstanding and actions that harm.
Your wisdom calls you to the conversation with yourself before it sends you to share deeply with others.
What is your hope, determination, anxiety, or numbness wanting to share? Every experience has a voice and something wise to offer you.
Nature, which is your essence, models inclusion of every movement. Day gives way to night which returns itself to day. Seasons, amiss as they are, give way after allowing each to offer wisdom to those with eyes to see, ears to hear, and a body to sense. The moon dances through cycles of bright and dark, modeling the beauty and potential in each phase.
Wisdom is unpredictable and subtly changes the rhythm of the conversation.
Intelligent perception begins within the wholeness of what you’re experiencing. Inviting an inner dialogue where you discover that the stories you tell are true for you, until they are discovered to be false. Where you find yourself basking in the warm beauty revealed by despair and the breaking of the heart. Not only a place of suffering nor a refuge from pain, you journey within your darkness to discover the brightest felt sense of life.
Here, you discover that both sorrow and joy matter.
A lightness of being is possible within hard times and heaviness arrives even when circumstances are bright. These experiences arrive to be noticed, to offer something you may learn from and then choose to keep or discard. Moving in the rhythm of life, regardless of whether circumstances are to your liking or not, you recognize there is wisdom in insecurity and discomfort.
There is no urgent need to deep dive into a dark that terrifies or to fly too close to the sun.
Begin gently and with great kindness. Honor the wisdom that is being felt throughout your being, uncomfortable as it may be.
Don’t back too far away from yourself in order to mask that which feels disabling. There is potential in every movement of life, even though in times of discord it is difficult to see. Resist the urge to run helter skelter toward the light and proclaim it as the only power of good.
The greatest potential for life lies within the wisdom of your being.
Join with this rather than following the personal and societal stories of mind. When you can welcome uncertainty and discomfort as wise teachers, you welcome another rhythm. That which quietly hums a tune of harmony flowing within the dark and light of human existence.
Listen carefully to the wisdom that whispers within you.
Steady and true, it leads you toward that perfect perception and inspired action which cultivates the love, respect, and generous care for every living being.
And if you haven’t downloaded The Self Soothe Strategy, now is a good time. It helps. A lot. Scroll down and get started. We need your calm.
Peace be with you and with all. No exceptions.
HeartWarming
News
When you despair about the harshness that humans display toward one another and the planet, take pause. In a crisis, look for the helpers, as Mr. Rogers’ mother sagely advised. The world is filled with hearts that are warm, minds that innovate, and communities that work together for the greater good of all life. Today, there is room for more benevolent and useful action. Even with a heart that is heavy, I wonder what you may offer to improve life on this planet. You are needed and it uplifts the soul to become part of a movement so generous, so loving, and so joyful that your despair lifts. And the planet lightens up. One person at a time.
