I envision my personal dark periods as . . . falling through a trap door. As in . . . my regular, everyday life is cruising right along and BAM! Suddenly a trap door opens and down I fall. Stuck. In the dark. With no easy way to get out.
I tend to wallow around down there for a while. Feeling miserable and paralyzed. Wanting out . . . but unable to find my way out.
Sometimes, I manage to rekindle my own inner light and discover that (what-d’you-know) there was a ladder there all the time, and I just climb out on my own. Sometimes, though, I feel too stuck to muster my own light source. And then I depend on other people to come looking for me. To shine their lights down on me. To show me that there IS a ladder down there. To help me climb out.
These are dark days for a lot of us right now. I have a feeling there’s a bunch of us who, having fallen down our own trap doors, are stuck in the pits of despair. Looking for some light – and a ladder.
What to do? First, build up your own inner light source. Add as much light to your life as you can. Every day. Maybe it’s music, maybe it’s poetry, maybe it’s knitting or twinkle lights or a candle. Just . . . do something . . . to remind you that there IS light. Even when it feels dark.
And then, remember your friends. The ones stuck down in their own trap door purgatories. The ones who need a light and some extra help finding the ladders. Check in. Be ready to share your flashlight and lend a hand.
Find your light.
Share your light.
It’s how we go on.
As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence actually liberates others.
— Marianne Williamson
I guess I’m grateful we don’t vote any later in the year – the physical darkness makes All of This even harder! I started counting down the days after I voted last week by actively seeking out Good Things. and it’s helping. xxoo.
This is not nearly as elegant as your post, but I love this story from a script of West Wing that has always struck all the chords for me about how to survive the black hole. Since I don’t have any friends currently who can help me, I have to talk myself out of the hole, but just knowing it is possible gives me hope every time I find myself down in the hole. Everything is life is temporary, including the experience of being in the hole.
“This guy’s walking down a street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep, he can’t get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, “Hey you, can you help me out?” The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up “Father, I’m down in this hole, can you help me out?” The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. “Hey Joe, it’s me, can you help me out?” And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, “Are you stupid? Now we’re both down here.” The friend says, “Yeah, but I’ve been down here before, and I know the way out.”
This is so good and I’ve forgotten about West Wing! Thanks for sharing.
This is a great analogy and not one I’ve considered before. I feel like I’m hanging on the edge of the hole. My legs are down there but my arms are holding me up so I don’t fall in completely. We will get through this together.
We filled out our ballots and bought them to the box yesterday. It feels good to have that DONE. But now we wait, and that’s hard.
It’s hard when the source of the darkness is something we can’t control, y’know? I’m definitely actively searching for joy and laughter and things that make me smile, but I need a lot of help (and maybe about 270 electoral votes) to get me out of this hole.
The next few days are going to be so hard, but you’re absolutely right–we’ve all done what we can do and now we have to hold out for that hope that all will be well.
I love Sara’s comment about needing help and 270 electoral votes! I would welcome that kind of help, and until then I’ll be listening to Yo-Yo Ma, dancing, reading poetry, and shining my flashlight.
Thank you for writing this. I am really feeling way down in the hole right now, and it sure is difficult to see any light. However, knowing that I am certainly not alone feeling this way is a glimmer of light. We’ve done what we can (voted) and the wait has begun. Thankfully there is chocolate and pinot grigio.
I love that quote.
This is all so important… that impending sense of doom is so scary. Scarier still… how the hell is this race even this close?! I have written letters… lots of letters. I have voted. I have talked to people about voting. Now, I wait… and have faith in the fellow citizens that believe that a democracy is worth fighting for. And knowing, they are as worried as I am… a fellowship of concerns and I have faith in us.
Yes. I keep thinking of the Cohen poem/song with the line, “There’s a crack in everything, it’s how the light gets in.” Or almost like that.
I was listening to NPR in the car last week. First was a story about the floods in Spain, then –inevitably — a piece about the election. I turned off the radio, realizing I would rather hear about the tragic happenings in Spain than about the damned election. Get it over with!