Day 348: Afraid Of The Dark

We're not truly afraid of the dark. Darkness is not the thing that causes us fear for if it was, wouldn't we be afraid of black objects like cars and clothing? We're not afraid of the physical quality of darkness, it is just another thing in life we must deal with. However, what we are afraid of is the uncertainty that comes along with darkness, the unknowns that lurk just beyond out gaze.

The world seems scarier at night because our eyes cannot confirm what is right in front of us. We hear and imagine things to be there and there is not visual proof that our imagination is wrong. We believe there to be something out there in the darkness, but cannot confirm or deny the actuality of what our mind is making up. That is what we are afraid of. We are afraid of what could be there.

Darkness has a terrible habit of pushing us into the safety of our houses and away from its reach. We need light and confirmation that monsters truly do not exist. We know in our mind that theres nothing truly that awful out there in the darkness, but we cannot prove it so we are afraid. The uncertainty of not knowing what is in front of us keeps us locked inside with our curtains lowered.

The same thing is true in life. Our future is shrouded in darkness. We cannot see a second ahead of us and therefore we are afraid of what is waiting up ahead. We imagine all sorts of terrible things and because we cannot disprove them with the confirmation of sight, all we do is worry. Fear of the future keeps us from actually living.

We shut ourselves away in our comfort zones. We lock the doors and turn on the lights and try to pretend that the uncertainties do not exist anymore. The room around us is well lit and we know what it contains and therefore we are not afraid of it. But living is not defined as being certain of the next step. There will always be uncertainty in our journey because we will always be walking into the darkness.

Try not to let your imagination run away with you and push you back into the safety of what you know. Like is about risking that step into the darkness of our journey. We must venture out and see what we can find there in the shadows. If we stay within our well lit home forever, we'll never see the stars waiting for us in the darkness.

Until Next Time,
Lillian Merritt