Changing yourself and learning and then sharing your knowledge is a bit like moving forward with a burning torch, in the dark.
The dark scares us; we wonder what it hides and what awaits us, we wonder if the ground will continue to be there under our feet, or if we will get lost in the process.
We can be afraid to go too far: in case we cannot come back. If we can be brave, we can advance. The advancement is usually tentative. We are seeing only what is in the circle of light of our torch around us and not knowing what we will find. We come across other people with their unlit torches, who may be hesitant to put a foot forward – also fearing that the ground will not support them. These are torches that we can gently light with our kindness, passion and knowledge along the way; helping those people to also see a little better in their unknown darkness.
Each torch we passed and lit, sheds a new circle of light, and our journey begins to be visible to those who would like to follow in our footsteps. They will not need so much courage as us, because there will be existing lights to follow. As they advance in the decreasing darkness, they too, can light other’s torches. From a single torch, the lights will gradually spread, very very slowly at first, but gaining in number and brightness as the torches light each other up.
In whatever direction we choose to go, we will be faced with the darkness which is the unknown. But we can change our perception of the unknown dark: we can understand it is a given. We can understand that the unknown is an elusive and always present element we need to get used to. We can begin to comprehend that we will never fully ‘see’ into the unknown, only maybe a little way in: if we are lucky. By taking our courage into both our hands, we can begin to take slightly bigger steps into the darkness of the unknown, until it is almost comfortable. This is when we can make real progress: when we start to get comfortable being uncomfortable. When the icky, prickly, awkward feeling of discomfort begins to be manageable, and we realise that we are doing what we wanted to do: we are challenging the unknown, not accepting its imprisoning darkness.
The stepping stones of light, created by the torches light the way. The torches are burning bright in the dark, and others can distinguish our path and other paths, from the torches that we and others have lit, and that continue to be lit. What was total darkness before, now provides a choice of paths for brave souls who wish to follow. All of us together, are creating these stepping stone paths that cross and meander, for ourselves and others to follow and explore, taking us far further, into the ever-receding darkness. Where once there was darkness, now we can look out, and see stepping stone trails leading from reassuring circle of light, to reassuring circle of light.
