In the dark, in the light
Exploring our themes of Light and Dark, Ben Harper thinks back to that moment where the light bulb changed the way we worked, lived and slept. He ponders if the balance of day and night actually shows us some healthy rhythms of rest and work that can aid our wellbeing.
This week, I have become more aware of the daylight shortening. I know this is has been happening for a while now (technically since June actually!), but this week I’ve got up in the dark every moring and returned home from work just as it’s started to go dark on a few occasions. Autumns reality is here.
As we deal with more darkness, we will need to rely on artificial light more to allow us to get on with our everyday activity, but this wasn’t always the case.
It’s thought that before the invention of the light bulb, rather than putting on more lights, people slept for an average of 11 hours a day instead. The current UK average is currently 7.6 hours.
I’m not suggesting you throw all your lamps out and get into your PJ’s for the rest of the winter, but I do wonder if we need to consider the important role that darkness plays in our life, and value it for what it provides.
It is in darkness that a seed begins to sprout
In the darkness of hibernation many animals preserve energy ready for the activities of spring.
It is as we sleep that our cardiovascular and immune systems get to recalibrate and our metabolism regulates itself.
Darkness, stopping, rest have important places in our life.
Giving in to rest and the rhythms of our year are not things our society is set up to support.
I don’t imagine many employers would be open to us doing different working hours depending on the seasons. But just as we (at least in our part of the world), have seasons with more light, and seasons with more dark, we should have seasons of more activity and seasons of less.
Work, activity, giving out can all be things that make us feel ‘well’, but we cannot expect to do this without also taking times to rest, recalibrate and regroup. The flip side of this is that it is possible to have too much rest making us sluggish, and demotivated. We cannot thrive without finding meaningful activity and opportunities to give to others. And so in the same way, we need a balance of light and dark, we need a balance of being and doing. Like the seasons, this might look different in different periods of our lives, but the balance still needs to be there.
TRY THIS
As we reflect on darkness and light this week why not take 5 minutes out to consider these questions.
What does balance look like for you?
Do you feel you life is balanced between the activity of being & the rest of doing?
What does it look like to make that balance better? What needs to stop? What needs to start?
Why not ponder these questions for the week to come? Maybe each time you’re aware of a new day or each day when darkness falls. Take time to notice how you feel about these questions and your responses.
Ben Harper is Space to Breathe’s Education Lead. You can interact with him on Twitter through @Wellbeingteach