Submitted by: David Cunic
I recently wrote about Why We Halloween. It’s about halfway between Autumnal Equinox and Winter Solstice, hence the darkest days of the year are beginning and we celebrate a holiday/holy day. Similar: Christmas-type holidays being near Solstice, the darkest day of the year.
And we all know the stereotypes of the dark: Black balling. Dark moods. Black list. The empty, vacuous void.
But there are so many uses for darkness that we enjoy, though we may not always admit it:
The mysterious/scary
We just passed the good old fun (for kids AND adults) of Halloween. So how many of us love scary flicks? Haunted houses? Ghost stories?
Fashion passion
Dress dark with that little black dress or dark suit and you can go seemingly anywhere, from chic club, to funeral, to rendezvous/date, to power meeting. There is such beauty in darkness especially when dealing with fashion.
The night sky
There are several ways you can look at it. I remember reading when I was in college (and near dropping out for the first time) about existentialism: the god is dead motif where humans look at the night sky for answers from God and hear only the silence of the Universe. After reading that I wrote my first Bergman-esque screenplay (just kidding).
But other more positive ways: the mysterious depths of the universe, the beautiful night sky with occasions of awe (meteors which I never tire of, though I’ve seen 100sthe full Mooneclipses and more). Just the fact that we can look into the greatest expanse and be inspired by it and enjoy its beauty.
And related: the wine dark sea (Homer), with its underlying bounty of sustenance and exploration, a different world unto itself.
The beauty in the unknown/shadowy
How many of us, no matter how physically beautiful, turn out the lights in becoming nude to make love? Or perform in candlelight at the brightest? Is that not one of the best ways to get our sexual healing’?
Artistic movements
From the expressionism of the black and white of film noir, to Picasso’s darker Blue period, to the danse macabre of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, to the blues, to the absurdism of plays and poetry by the likes of Beckett, Sartre, Eliot. Also the great majority of our top stories going into darkness/conflict/obstructions before resolutions in the end, even in our happiest tales.
The spiritual
Is it any coincidence: the black stone in the center of Mecca, the shadows of confessionals in Catholicism, the yin /yang dark/light dichotomies of eastern and western religions (even the Biblical God was really creator and destroyer). I suppose a need: the light is even brighter in contrast to the darkness (darkest before dawn).
The indoors
I’ve written about it before, but chances for different activities than the lighter days: warmth by the fire, warm foods, indoor projects/fun, more closeness with loved ones.
The opportunities for smaller light and communal closeness:
the above-mentioned intimacy
the campfire
the holidays in the dead of darkness as the aforementioned ones related to Christmas
and one of my favorite community events because of its rarity and its ability to pull us together to enjoy each other and do different activities: widespread electrical black outs like the one that darkened NY City in 2003.
Powe
Yes, this is a little tinged by testosterone, but let’s admit the appeal or at least awe-inspiration to women and men: the dark power suit, the priestly frocks, and, I hate to say it, but the uniformity of the totalitarians, like the, well, let’s call it German leadership of the mid 20th century.
As many of you know, I’m one who at least tries to see the opportunity and positivity of those entities that are often seen as useless, bad, forgotten, etc. And the darkness is a huge depth and universe where so much can be enjoyed and discovered.
About the Author: David M. Cunic, is a successful physical therapist and personal trainer for Pazoo, Inc., a Health & Wellness company for people & pets. To learn more visit us at
pazoo.com
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