Echoes from the dark

The Dark.

What is it? For some of us it may be a ''headspace'', or

perhaps a mindset, or perhaps a memory. Regardless of

how we view the dark, most of us probably prefer not to go there.

The dark is often associated with something uncomfortable, scary, sad, 

gloomy and perhaps even at times tinted with a sense of malevolence

and impending doom.

Some say that we fear the dark because the dark can conceal all manner

of scary stuff. Potential predators and or dangerous and deadly creatures

(including humans) for instance, who are able to hide under the cover of darkness.

In other words, in the dark, our visual sense disappears and we become unable to

detect who or what may be hiding in there.

Sitting in a beanbag on the floor one night watching an intense and very

scary thriller on the TV, I suddenly felt a shiver go through my body.

Except for the light from the TV-screen, the rest of the living room

was in total darkness. Suddenly I sensed a presence.

I quickly stood up and turned on the houselights. As I flicked the

switch I found myself eye to eye with the biggest huntsman spider

I have ever seen in my life. Right there, next to the light switch he was,

the size of a big man's hand. We both decided to run for it.

Eventually I caught the spider, and yes, I killed it.

Although Huntsman spiders are not classified as deadly, 

their fangs still pack a serious punch and can land you in hospital.

''Dark'' memories or experiences on the other hand, are in my

view a lot trickier to outrun, or ''kill''.

Eventually most memories fade somewhat, but often, it seems

to me, the really good ones and the really bad ones can

be very persistent in their staying power.

According to some recent research published in JNeurosci:

''it takes more mental effort to discard information from the

brain than to keeping it. Moderately reactivating the experience

of an unwanted memory may be required to forget it.''

        When we experience something difficult, something traumatic,

             many of us probably want to ''shove it where the sun don't shine''

         but if JNeurosci's research is right, then throwing some gentle

                            light on it: as in talking to someone about it, (the experiences/memories)

is probably more helpful.

    One night, after having found my son comatose in a pool

             of vomit and urine on my living room sofa, I tried to push the

         image of the event into the deepest recesses of my mind. 

        It didn't work. 

  Every time I would go to bed, echoes of that dark event

                  would haunt me. I decided to seek help. This proved to be very helpful

         because there would be many, many, more dark events for me to deal

       with. But, with the help of a very wise psychologist, I have been able

         to process and find an approach that now helps me to confront ''the dark''.

          According to some research I read some time ago, it was 

        suggested that every time we recall a memory, we change that 

memory a little bit depending on who we are talking to. 

(They call this audience-tuning.)

  In my view, much like an echo, it changes with time and distance.

Daniela Schiller, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine,

     suggests that memory is not like a ''file'' in our brain, but

more like a story that is edited every time we tell it.

                   (Each edited version however, feels like the ''real'' story.)

      Have you ever left something dark colored out in the

       sun for a long time? It fades most of the time doesn't it.

               Light is powerful, even the gentle light from a lit matchstick

         is more powerful than the dark. 

The Dark only remains the Dark when we hide it from the light. 

   If you find that every now and then echoes from the Dark rise up

 instead of trying to silence it, perhaps it may prove helpful

to  listen to it.

       ''Don't fight darkness - bring the light and darkness will disappear.''

       (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi)

        about the image: acrylic on large canvas, some editing in Photoshop

 ps: sorry about the spacing.....not my doing