The dictionary defines the word 'darkness' as the "absence or deficiency of light". A cursory glance out one's window these days will confirm this as an apt definition. It is that time of year again in which the days grow noticeably shorter and even though we set our collective clocks back and gain one precious hour, we lose one to black skies. What is it about the darkness that so affects our mood? Why is it that the absence of light does so much to mute our inward joy? One answer may be found in perception. Under adequate lighting, people can take in the world in full and undisclosed detail for as far as one's eyes can see, there is no visual mystery. On some level, perhaps light takes away our subconscious fear of the unknown because in the light there is no hiding. As sensual beings, humans are most at ease when their senses are working to their fullest. In the dark, our eyes can be deceived or eluded and we have to mentally fill in the blanks of that which we cannot perceive.
Darkness represents the hole in our perceptions. Philosophically, darkness can also be the holes in our being -- the parts of us we do not know; our fear of that which we cannot know; the inability to face the world outside of our own mental one. Darkness, such as it can be externally perceived, forces one to slowly close both the inward and outward boundaries of awareness more tightly around oneself. Essentially, in the dark we can only see that which is relatively more immediately close to us and therefore the lengths to which we infer our surroundings increases causing us to become steadily more introspective. As social creatures, humans yearn to reach out and be connected to the world around them. If indeed being in darkness causes some to become more contained to their own mind, then it would follow that one would also experience emotional resonance as well. While this emotional response could obviously vary, it would be logical to assume that the feeling of being restrained from the rest of the world would result in a negative way.
The Fall season brings many things with it. Here in Wisconsin, it brings the winter cold. Cold in and of itself could be distilled much the same as darkness into the correlation of human need to be warm and the warmth of being loved or accepted. I'll skip over that dissection in favor of staying on topic, suffice it to say some climates make the great darkness of Fall potentially harder to bear. I truly do believe that the Fall and Winter seasons do cause many to struggle with increasingly difficult moods and feelings. Perhaps this is why the powers-that-be grouped so many holidays in such a close proximity on our calendar. The more reminders we have of what makes life joyous, the less inclined we are to turn in on ourselves. It's been said in fiction for centuries that one of the single most powerful strengths and weaknesses of the human condition is hope. It is hope that drives us to persevere. It is hope that makes us strive for a better tomorrow. It is the more positive and inspiring aspects of hope that I want to emphasize here as it is this exact sentiment that makes the darkness bearable. It is the ability to reach out to others even when you feel alone that illuminates the darkness in ourselves.
We are capable of enduring darkness in the hopes that the light will ultimately prevail, and if you look at it that way darkness is just another moment of your life.
