![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Happy Yuletide!
Dec. 21st, 2008 01:30 amHappy Solstice everyone!
It's the darkest night of the year for those of us in the northern hemisphere. For many people, this is a time to reflect on the darkness in your life. In this time, we focus on the coming light, celebrating the return of the sun tomorrow morning. Within our lives, we think about the future and the hope of things to come.
I think this is an awesome thing to think about in this time. There's all this crap and shit in our lives, and we sometimes lose sight of the fact that these things are only temporary. If you think about it, whenever you're depressed or upset, you feel as though you've always been like that. By thinking about the message of Yule, we might remember that we're just in a dark place for now, but in time, the wheel of fate will turn and we will once again reside in the light. In this time we shout against the darkness and defy it, saying boldly that we shall not be consumed by this long night, and in the morning, we shall be reborn in light.
There is something that's been going through my mind a lot lately, though. The focus of Yuletide is very much on the coming light. It's on the bright, shiny, and happy things that are coming. It's focused on our shout against darkness. But I have a great deal of respect for the darkness. On some level, I don't want to forget to honor that darkness for itself.
I have lived most of my life within darkness. I've been sick and detached from my own heart, and struggling to find my life amidst shadows of dreams of what I want to be. But throughout that entire time, I've always focused on the coming light. I've always dreamt of the bright futures that I was sure were just around the corner.
It made me ill. Something was wrong about it. Because... I only ever really began to overcome my darkness and depression when I accepted the darkness for what it was. When I embraced it and let it be, instead of trying to focus on changing it into light. I became a fan of the darkness and celebrated it, and in so doing, I overcame it.
Huh... I wonder if this is something akin to what Lao Tzu describes as "wu wei," "doing without doing." Only by embracing the true darkness of what I am can I move closer to the light?
It's the darkest night of the year for those of us in the northern hemisphere. For many people, this is a time to reflect on the darkness in your life. In this time, we focus on the coming light, celebrating the return of the sun tomorrow morning. Within our lives, we think about the future and the hope of things to come.
I think this is an awesome thing to think about in this time. There's all this crap and shit in our lives, and we sometimes lose sight of the fact that these things are only temporary. If you think about it, whenever you're depressed or upset, you feel as though you've always been like that. By thinking about the message of Yule, we might remember that we're just in a dark place for now, but in time, the wheel of fate will turn and we will once again reside in the light. In this time we shout against the darkness and defy it, saying boldly that we shall not be consumed by this long night, and in the morning, we shall be reborn in light.
There is something that's been going through my mind a lot lately, though. The focus of Yuletide is very much on the coming light. It's on the bright, shiny, and happy things that are coming. It's focused on our shout against darkness. But I have a great deal of respect for the darkness. On some level, I don't want to forget to honor that darkness for itself.
I have lived most of my life within darkness. I've been sick and detached from my own heart, and struggling to find my life amidst shadows of dreams of what I want to be. But throughout that entire time, I've always focused on the coming light. I've always dreamt of the bright futures that I was sure were just around the corner.
It made me ill. Something was wrong about it. Because... I only ever really began to overcome my darkness and depression when I accepted the darkness for what it was. When I embraced it and let it be, instead of trying to focus on changing it into light. I became a fan of the darkness and celebrated it, and in so doing, I overcame it.
Huh... I wonder if this is something akin to what Lao Tzu describes as "wu wei," "doing without doing." Only by embracing the true darkness of what I am can I move closer to the light?
