Today (a while ago) I went to GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) in Brisbane with a friend. It was a joyful experience.Two rooms were in different exhibits and contexts yet they both offered the same experience of infinity…for very different reasons. The picture is of a little of the effect of a three D experience of reflection and darkness with UV lights and glowing pingpong balls that you can’t touch but I discovered if you blew on them they would move in the darkness that went on forever, the lights just made it possible to tell.

The other room, I am unable to post a picture of as it was darkness with walls painted totally black and the furniture which was in the space was also black. It was the kind of space designed to tell the story of a tragedy that I won’t try to retell as I will leave details out for sure. Safe to say it was a confronting experience for many. I found it drew me into the room but it touched very deeply inside. Less joyful but not black. Dark yes, there was no light and there was sensory deprivation which was part of the story but the room had something in it.

Both rooms require trust to be in. There is a sense that both are enabling the viewer to get lost in the darkness. Even the lights seems to draw my eyes into the space between, the darkness. To feel safe you have to be able to stand in the darkness and be present.

Now that is the life lesson isn’t it?

To feel safe you have to be able to stand in the darkness and be present. 

No words or images can give a person that ability. Some people are afraid of the dark and some aren’t. Some are afraid but can act anyway, some can not. We think of fear as weakness when in fact it is simply a survival instinct that still exists. Knowing where our limits are allows us freedom to live within then and then walk beyond them.

There are some life experiences, no, there are all life experiences that inevitably we must live through for a figurative or literal tomorrow to arrive. Light or dark, the thing is to be present. Present in now whatever it is and live. Simple.

I began this post a long time ago and thought I should finish it today. I do a job I don’t like but it feeds me. There are lots of options out there to solve that situation, some possible and some not. But….in every moment of every day there, being present is all and the best that I can bring.

Happy Day to you! May you always find ways to be present in your light and in your dark spaces. Life is like that 🙂

Sandy