What Darkness Reveals (Amie Stone King)

What Darkness Reveals

My son spent hours one day running up the rocks, bouldering, sliding down into crevices, and exploring. An amazing playground for a ten year old. Unafraid of the steep slopes and confident in himself, the challenges drove him on, and he did not want to leave. For the next two days he begged to go back and visit Arches National Park again. Finally, our family returned but this time the sun was setting as we ascended the winding road up to the Double Arches. When we’d parked and reached the trail, it was dark. Phone light in hand I jogged along the path behind my son who was in a full out run, despite the lack of light. All he could think about was getting back to the rocks he loved, the natural jungle gym like no other. When I caught up to him, he’d already begun to ascend to the main arch, over 112 feet in the air with a sheer drop-off on the other side. The fact that it was dark with very little ambient light did not slow him down. He’d found an almost instinctual connection with his surroundings.

Photos from Arches National Park by Amie Stone King

We often think that things are much easier if we can see what is in front of us, forgetting that sharper focus comes when we struggle. As a mother, it made me a bit nervous not being able to see him and knowing he was scaling the wall up to a giant hole in the rock. Every once in awhile his phone light would flash and I followed the beacon, hurrying, trying to catch-up and not constantly run into rocks. Halfway to the window I realized I’d fallen into a climbing rhythm and was no longer concerned with the darkness. Even though my eyes could not see more than a couple of feet in front of me, my body had relaxed into the sensory deprivation, allowing me to move forward without limitation. A 2012 study of alternative therapies even supported what I experienced when they found that, “There was a significant correlation between mindfulness in daily life and degree of altered states of consciousness during the relaxation in the flotation tank.” The more you permit your mind to participate, the better your whole being responds.1

We eventually reached the top, sat on the ledge looking into the blackness, and attempted to take a photo. In the daylight, the climb down had been much more difficult than the ascent, and it was even scarier in the dark. Our senses were on edge as we tried not to slip, knowing that sliding down the hill would be much less fun, especially fearing the boulders we might crash into along the way. My connection to the night was broken and I began to imagine what wildlife lay in wait and wondered what else was out there that I couldn’t see. Darkness can remove fear and inhibitions but it can also compound them.

Back on the concrete path after successfully scaling the hill, he was racing toward the parking lot and accidentally frightened a person we passed. “Stupid kid,” she called, a teenager herself. My son thought this was hilarious and roared with laughter. It occurred to me then that he’d found nothing but delight in this entire experience. Even with the intense climb down, I’d absorbed the bulk of the stress, he was still just happy to be back in a place that gave him joy. He saw no difference in the light or dark. In the Bible, David acknowledged that God’s sight is similar in Psalms 139:11-12 where he wrote, “If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” 2

Light and darkness offer two very different perspectives. One makes us believe that we can see exactly what is present while the other piques our senses with unease. Our challenge should be to fully embrace the dark, accepting that what we discover in this mind altering state may actually be of benefit, helping us to become better attuned managers of our senses in both day and night.

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Amie Stone King, is an artist and media professional. Her works often explore deep social issues in an effort to bring understanding and inspire change. She is a regular AllCreation contributor and member of the management team. Visit Amie’s website and check out her work on AllCreation for more.

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1 Kjellgren, A., Westman, J. Beneficial effects of treatment with sensory isolation in flotation-tank as a preventive health-care intervention – a randomized controlled pilot trial. BMC Complement Altern Med 14, 417 (2014). Beneficial effects of treatment with sensory isolation in flotation-tank as a preventive health-care intervention – a randomized controlled pilot trial

2 New International Version. (2011). BibleGateway.com. See also: How to Make Your Room Dark, SleepFoundation.org.