To Know the Dark

Winter is here. The cold deepens each day, puddles laced with ice, frost tracing the way down the mountains and stretching toward the valley floor. Even as the chill settles in, I live with the privilege of a heated home—a place where I can step out of the cold whenever I need to.

What I notice more than the temperature, though, is the darkness. Mornings arrive without light, and night seems to slip in by mid-afternoon. As we move closer to the solstice—the celebration of the longest night—there is a cultural pull to push the dark away: to celebrate the returning light, to cover our homes in Christmas lights that brighten the gloom and make winter feel more cheerful. Darkness becomes a problem to fix, something to resist or banish. Thoughts, a poem or two and a sacred practice for you to settle into the darkness.