A couple of weeks ago, I was looking outside my window at hummingbirds buzzing around late summer flowers, but also noticing the wilting of the sunflowers nearby. I knew the autumnal equinox was coming, signaling a change from a predominance of sunlight to a predominance of darkness.
This is never a favorite time of year for me. I feel much better in the light. As I looked at those sunflowers beginning to droop, I thought to myself, “the flowers all give up the fight and fade.” I knew right away that these were going to be the beginning of lyrics. I also knew the lyrics would be a way for me to discover a new way of looking at this darkness.
The lyrics started with my feelings about the encroaching darkness. I knew that the chorus would have to be a transition point to a deeper meaning of this darkness. I thought about plant life going dormant and resting. Typically, we sleep in the dark and we reset for a new day. And it is in the dark of the chrysalis that a caterpillar transforms into a a butterfly.
But is it the darkness itself that brings about the change? To me, it seems it is more related to the stillness that the darkness brings. It is a form of surrender to what nature would do with us. In the brief letting go of control, we allow space for the new to arrive…new information; new energy; new ways of being.
Perhaps dislike for the encroaching darkness is part of me not wanting change to come…not giving up on the pleasure that was. But change is what life is made of, so I reluctantly step into that pool of darkness to see what change will come. I accept the coming transformation.
In The Dark was born out of the sadness of losing the light and was transformed into a song of needing the stillness to transform. I am certain that not only do I need to transform, but we as a species do as well. My hope is that we can all step into those moments of darkness to allow all that is to transform us.
Please take a listen below to a bare bones piano version of In the Dark with lyrics printed on screen. Hopefully a more complete version will be available a bit down the road.
Thanks for reading!