Light, Dark & the In-Between

A rainy day reverie on individual preferences for light or darkness. The balance between night and day teaches us that we must embrace both.

Steady falling rain, a dark and dreary overcast day, a warm cup of tea steaming swirls into the air, and a candle flickering beside me. Honestly, I could not ask for a better vibe for writing than the one I currently find myself in. Part of me desperately wants to grab a cozy blanket and book instead of writing but I digress. In the matchup between a bright sunny day and a moody rainy day, my choice will always and forever be the latter.

Why choose the dark over the light?

Light and dark are often used as an allegory for good and evil, but to do so is a disservice. The universe created them both and just as darkness can offer refuge, so too can light harbor malintent.

The value of warm rays of sunshine is not lost on me, particularly for someone who is always cold, no matter the time of year. But give me ancient libraries with their unending dark wooden bookshelves, multiple alcoves to settle into, and the rhythmic fall of rain upon a towering ceiling. Or let me settle myself onto a moonlit back porch, wrapped in blankets, while insects croon as I rock back and forth on creaky floorboards. Allow me to dream as I distance myself from the wide-reaching aura of light pollution to gaze at a night sky with stars too numerous to count.

To be sure, the day has its uses, but the darkness offers wisdom, peace, and the space to dream without interruption. A sanctuary for the soul when the world has caused harm that no bandage can fix. Daylight offers distraction amidst the hustle and bustle. The night offers respite amidst silence and solitude.

In truth, we need them both. I do not denigrate those whose preference differs from mine. Everyone’s journey is individualized, shaped by choices we control and those we cannot. Along the course of our lives, we will know both the stillness of peace and the swirling tempest. Choice, chance, and chaos conspire to evolve the crux of who we are.  

In much the same way, the day forms us just as much as the night. One without the other creates a state of being no one would want. Unrelenting daylight scalds the landscape. Endless night destroys new growth and the old. The tides of balance are necessary. But so too is the ability to yield, to know that flexibility does not equate to subservience.

As my hand periodically shifts to warm itself over a candle’s flame, I find myself grateful for days such as this. Days when the sun yields to other forces, omniscient in knowing its value is not in ruling without restraint, but in making room for balance and the in-between.

Perhaps we can all learn something from that.