I am feeling a little despondent about where truth has disappeared to in the world. And so we are turning to the honest rhythms of the natural world for safety and reassurance. Depending on where you get your news and what glasses you are wearing, facts feel illusive. Ironic in a moment of such veneration of data as the new science. But, our bodies do not lie, they hold imprints and memories of our pain and our joy and so too, the changing seasons mirror the vast array of humanness and experience in their moods and changing. I am preoccupied with this idea of being a channel for the light.
Can’t we start a movement of people whose sheer purpose is to be a channel for the light?
What is the light? The light is letting go of prejudice, judgement, otherness and cruelty. The light is not carrying the burden of the world in weight on your body. The light is using your musculature for holding yourself poised and open to holding and hugging. The light is making space for an ecosystem that supports every microorganism, person, and place, so that they may all keep each other in check. The light is checking yourself before you react, it’s that powerful space “between the stimulus and response…in that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response.” (Victor Frankl)
It’s hard to believe what darkness is shadowing so many human experiences at this moment of my writing, warm in my kitchen smelling of Saturday morning pancakes and giggling with flu-ish but happy children. How do we reconcile the disparity, the polarity, the ‘bothness’ of every moment?
This is not only a philosophical call for light beings. It’s the food of life. It sets your every cell; governing hormone production, sleep, digestion, mood and cellular repair. We know that early morning exposure to light suppresses melatonin production and resets the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the brain to synchronise our neuroendocrine system with day and night. This rhythm is intertwined with the release of cortisol to get us up and out of bed in the morning and serotonin to keep us content and calm. Seasonal affective disorder is the embodiment of this rhythm disturbed, shrouding a person in a depression as a result of the absence of this life-affirming daily light source. In Antarctica, explorers often develop “winter-over syndrome”, a mix of insomnia, irritability, depression, and cognitive decline due to prolonged darkness, isolation, and circadian disruption. In contrast, in northern Norwegian settlements, where inhabitants are embodying their own light through community and cheerful mindsets, the incidence of seasonal affective disorder is extremely low. So my theory holds.
Be a channel for light.
Orientate your body, your presence, what you eat, who you smile at, the attitude with which you care or take your medicine or go to work. TO THE LIGHT.
