The Light We Find in the Dark
On suffering, healing, and remembering who we are
The Gift of Those Who Don’t Give Up on Us
It’s a beautiful and divine thing to have people in our lives who don’t give up on us. Today, that is #1 on my gratitude list.
There have been many people who have given up on me – or maybe, more truthfully, it was a reflection of them giving up on themselves. Or perhaps, even me giving up on myself. Or maybe it wasn’t that deep, and we simply weren’t a fit.
Nonetheless, there’s always something and someone to be grateful for.
Despite the doubts – both theirs and mine – there are people who have truly believed, and continue to believe, in my healing and potential. People who see greatness in me. People who remind me that we all are destined for greatness, in our own way.
The Wisdom of Darkness
Which brings me to something mystics, sages, and wise souls throughout history have always echoed: the idea that deep suffering can be a path to transformation.
And that message has been a recurring theme from those rare people in my life—the ones who never gave up on me. They’ve said it again and again: the darkness I’ve endured is not just a burden. It’s an invitation.
An invitation to grow.
To transform.
To remember who I really am.
But only if I choose to allow it.
Letting Darkness Be a Teacher
Darkness has an incredible power, yet so many of us instinctively turn away from it. It feels too vast, too terrifying, too unknown.
But if we can summon the courage to dive into it—truly be with it—it can become our greatest teacher, friend, and ally.
To do this, we must stop resisting and instead embrace the darkness as the teacher that it is.
Yes, it can be cruel.
Yes, it can be isolating.
But suffering shows us where we’re out of alignment. It reveals the places where we’re not being authentic. It strips away what we are not so we can rediscover what we are.
My Life, My Mirror
My own life has mirrored this back to me again and again:
- I experienced war to learn that I am peace.
- I experienced cruelty and injustice to learn that I am compassion.
- I experienced illness to remember that I have always been whole.
- I experienced ugliness to understand that I am beautiful—always have been.
- I experience being human to remember that I am a soul, infinite and eternal.
Suffering pulled me into another dimension—away from the noise of the world, away from everything and often everyone. It left me in silence and isolation… where I could finally face myself and discover the truth.
Beauty Is Truth
Beauty is not what society markets to us. It’s not surface-deep. True beauty is found in our light and our darkness. It is the vast spectrum of contradictions we hold within us.
To be truly human is to create space for all of it:
The light.
The shadow.
The beautiful shades of grey.
And all the colors in between.
Through the darkness, a portal opens. And we are given a choice: do we step through it?
It’s terrifying, yes. But when we do—when we let it teach us what we came here to learn—we emerge on the other side seeing the world with brand new eyes.
All We Must Do Is Allow
That’s it.
Allow.
Let the darkness shape you.
Let the light find you again.
Let the people who love you remind you of who you are.
Let yourself heal.
And let this life transform you into the soul you came here to be.
