L.P: In defence of darkness
Photo by Annie Spratt via Unsplash
I wrote this in response to the ‘call for submissions’ as I found the way darkness described as ‘intense, troubling, gloomy’, as holding many negative connotations; and I personally find darkness to be so useful and enriching… positive even!
In the cloak of darkness, we can be vulnerable – building up new skin to burn – as we resurface in the ever-exposing light. The Darkness has a bad reputation. Referenced in culture and religion as the negative, evil, unknown, untrusted… and yet it is the darkness that holds space. It is nourishing, fertile, mysterious, and immensely restorative. It is in the darkness where creation broods, ideas and minerals begin to take shape – ideas come to fruition; and then surge into the light to dance until they die, fizzle out again, return. It is in broad daylight where we see the destruction of beauty at its finest. Let us embrace the darkness – for the light relies on her womb-like qualities. We need her nutrient-rich soil, universal timeless wisdom, and abundant possibility. For life starts in the container protected by her veil – the inside of an egg, a bodily crevasse, a woman’s belly – or somewhere so small and unknown – it epitomizes darkness – having no light being shone on it – remaining a secret waiting to be discovered – un-covered – witnessed. It is the light, which is intense, the dark is expansive… and together, they are quite literally life and death marbled together in such an interwoven way; they cannot be separated for they are the same story. Without each other, they (and nothing) will exist.
L.P
I am a first-year student of Gestalt psychotherapy at Metanoia Institute - so my sense of self is currently going through an upheaval, and a biography at this stage would be hugely temperamental. I hope to expand on this as the years go forward. Existentially yours... LP.
