Are You Afraid of the Dark?

“There is no light without darkness – and this troubles many of us – but without it, how else would we tell one from the other? We spend half of every day in darkness; surely we should make our peace with this.”
​~ Mark Frost

During the recent solar eclipse, the moon passed in front of the sun, casting its shadow upon the Earth. On the surface, this seems like a pretty innocent event. However, there is often a lot of fear associated with an eclipse. What is it about darkness that scares us so much?

Afterall, without darkness there would be no light. Light and dark are more than just opposites, they need each other to exist. It's like how a magnet always has two opposite poles. You will never find a magnet that only attracts or one that only repels. Similarly, you can't have light without the presence of darkness.

What would it be like to look up at the stars if there was no darkness? You wouldn’t be able to see anything at all! As Alice Feeney once said, “Stars cannot shine without darkness.” In the same way, the moon could not possibly cast a shadow on the Earth if there were no sunlight present. The experience of light depends on there being darkness, just as the experience of darkness depends on there being light.

So, instead of being afraid of the dark, see it as an essential aspect of light. Furthermore, recognize that light and dark are in perfect balance on our planet. In fact, every location on Earth, without exception, averages 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness annually. When you embrace the light and reject the dark, you miss out on half of the experience.