"Like Gold in Dark Times"

Past reflections come back round, and future forecasting with a poem

Photo by Krissia Cruz on Unsplash

Darker evenings and shorter days seem to draw me back into the recesses of past posts and writing of mine from over the years. Tonite is no exception. I love making a hot cup of tea and paging through physical and digital entries and essays that felt so necessary to express at the time, but easily begin to blend into the background over time.

It feels sacred somehow, leafing through past versions of yourself on paper. There can be self-consciousness (a certainty), a hefty dose of self-compassion (necessary) and once in a while, the delightful realization that you’ve opened to a passage that speaks to what you are feeling in the present moment (this is the part that feels like magic).

On this last night of September, I came across this post of mine from my old blog from 2018:

My Friends, it's been another wild week in this world and chances are that you are overwhelmed. I have stewed, raged, cried, and felt a stubborn hopefulness bubbling under the surface. Big Feelings are everywhere and it's easy to not know what to do or where to turn.

I came across this beautiful reflection (below) by the American writer Clarissa Pinkola Estes this week, as it was shared on social media by an artist I know and admire. It doesn't take away any of the sting or fear, but helped me to reclaim a glimmer of hope and made me want to take care of myself so that I can help others. I hope this passage does the same for you. 

May we continue to resist in ways big and small, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to take care of ourselves. March, donate, volunteer your time, and dare to believe we can win against hate and greed. Creative souls are made for times like these. Our imaginations can help us envision a future we cannot yet see. Our belief in freedom, beauty, truth, and love will helps guide us. It's a marathon, not a sprint and we need every single one of us.

"My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.