The Dark Night (Not Knight)
It is our tendency to seek light. It’s more comfortable than darkness. But nature has its way and we will not always find ourselves in conditions of light and warmth. The darkness has its purpose and its place. And we have our adaptations. I’m speaking both literally and metaphorically. Every moment of joy in a person’s life is preceded and followed by dark moments. This is absolutely necessary for growth and for recognition of joy. Because what is hot without cold. There was no question mark because it was a rhetorical question. But I do have a real follow up question. What’s the point of having a preference? You can’t always choose what and when you experience certain things. So you might as well cultivate stoicism. The other option is to cultivate whininess. And I’m failing to come up with a situation where this is the best course of action. These are just some of the lessons elucidated on a dusty trail up a rocky Arizona mountain. In this particular instance it was the middle of the night. There was no moon. If you were in a plane flying over PHX on this or any other night you would have looked down and seen a shimmering sea of lights covered every inch of visible land save for a few blots of inky dark where mountains jutted out of the ground and the city had the good sense not to put lights. We were wading through one of those blots of darkness.
The reflex in such a situation is to seek the light. The eye is drawn to it. And there was light everywhere. Some power plant somewhere fed the demands of countless points of light that illuminated the city around us. But it wasn’t true light. These lights were only placeholders until the sun peeked over the horizon rendering them all obsolete. The tendency is to look at the light, to be in denial of the fact that it is night, that darkness dominates. Reflex, tendency, whatever. It is not the wise thing. And denial of the fact that it is night is denial of ones own nature. We were meant to endure the night, just as the day. We were meant to thrive always, even if the dark is all that is available.
If one were to look at the trail and disregard the artificial light cast by the municipal grid of the city, one would begin to notice an adjustment. Accept the darkness. Continue, one foot in front of the other. Your eyes begin to change. You begin to make out the vague shapes and shadows with a bit more clarity. Where once was darkness, a tinted visibility prevails. One foot in front of the other. Progress is made. Many great journeys have been undertaken and completed completely at night by people who possess wisdom and acceptance of the darkness. One foot in front of the other. Walk faster now. Break into a run if you can. For every dark night is broken by day. I promise the sun will catch you and you will bask in the light and warmth again. If you run hard enough, you may catch be able to catch the sun on the far horizon. This is the territory of great souls. There are those that cry not into the darkness, but silence their fear, stare back into the face of darkness and render it what it truly is. A passing illusion.
In Summation:
The literal take home lesson here is that if you’re out hiking at night, the less you frantically search for light with your eyes (moon, city lights), the better you become at seeing in the dark. It takes like a half hour depending on conditions. The benefits are endless. Less tripping. I can’t think of any others right now. Take a two or three light sources anyway, just in case it doesn’t work or you find yourself in a hairy situation where getting in touch with your primal roots isn’t as important as getting out alive. The metaphorical lesson is life has ups and downs. Don’t be a pussy. If you’re the opposite of that, a BAMF, like this guy:
BAMF: Not afraid of the dark… or jokes.
Then you can turn even the low points into something positive. There are other metaphors. But you have to read between the lines. If you’re having a hard time doing that, then maybe it’s time we reassess the efficacy of our public school system. Maybe pay baseball players a bit less and teachers a bit more.
On an unrelated note, check out ropaderelief.com. Support the cause. I think I’m going to shamelessly plug Ropa every single time I post.