WHAT LIGHTS US UP...
Inspiration. Imagination. Illumination.
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The Dark
For the last several years, I have walked through the most painful time of my life and have faced intense fear and sadness. You know, the emotional stuff that makes for great cocktail party conversation. But let me be real for a moment, and go beyond the comfort zone of polite party conversation and into the realm of the uncomfortable-the darkness.
A 16th century mystic, St. John of the Cross, has a name for this period of the soul's journey. He calls it the Dark Night of the Soul. Joseph Campbell, 20th century writer and mythologist, mapped out the journey of the hero and speaks of this time in the journey as the abyss.
For me, going through the Dark Night of the Soul was the first time in my life where I truly felt my feet on the ground. Pain brought me into my body, and I began to deeply experience my heart.
It takes courage to face our pain and look it in the eye, and to say, "yes I see you."
However, when we face our pain, when we go into the dark and bear witness to it, it can no longer run us unconsciously. This doesn't mean we are rendered white as snow, or that we are suddenly enlightened or never afraid, but it does mean that no matter what, we know-through experience-that the universe has our back and we can walk through anything.
We trust ourselves more deeply because we know we can weather the storm.
Going into my own Dark Night of the Soul has proven to me that no matter what is happening in my life, I will be okay, and that the universe is conspiring in my favor.
The brighter the light, the darker the shadow, and we-beings of burning bright light-have all had experiences with pain, darkness, and the shadows of self.
But this shadow self, this darkness, is truly a blessing because it has the potential to open us up to be more honest, authentic, and compassionate. A friend shared with me the definition of compassion: to suffer together.
We all deserve happiness, and I spent most of my life running from the dark. It has taken time, but one thing I know to be true is when we turn around and face the dark, face the hungry ghost, and turn on the lights, we can see the bogeymen are there only for our own evolution, our own revolution. The darkness, the pain, is fertilizer for joy, cheering us on to raise our frequency and to grow. To plant our roots deeply in the solid ground of ourselves, and joyously reach for the sun and stars above.
In fact, experiencing and walking through the Dark Night of the Soul is a gift,
although it certainly doesn't feel like it. A friend of mine told me once last year that God lives inside of the wound. In the very heart of the pain, lives the Divine presence.
We all in some way walk through this Dark Night-whether it is heart break, physical pain, addiction, the loss of a loved one, some form of abuse.
When we embrace our humanity, our human plight, and see it as a part of our own transformation, then the very pain becomes fuel to serve our healing.
We need not minimize pain, nor do we need to sweep it under the carpet. Rather, it is to be excavated, seen and heard, so it can be transmuted into gold. This process is what I like to think of as modern day alchemy.
Walking through our darkness is like a revolution of self that shakes us up and awakens our internal navigation system. It awakens our intuition, compassion, strength, and says your power is not what you are or do in life, but is in who you are: a child of the universe.
In starting A*Light, a company dedicated to spreading the light, I feel that it is possible to channel the light because I am not running from the dark. Rather, the darkness has intensified the desire to shine.
Darkness is the rocket fuel propelling us to reach higher toward the light.
A*LIGHT
Would love to hear from you! Write to us on the Blog!
Would love to hear from you! Write to us on the Blog!
Shine On Friends. Shine!
Alice Fulks
A*LIGHT Creative Director
Installation Artist, Bruce Munro: Field of Lights
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