They have been dark times of late. I have noticed it all around. One friend lost her mother; another her brother; another’s daughter relapsed into illness; another’s children were evacuated from their school that was burned to the ground. I myself was taken ill when working overseas and was laid out for 2 weeks, in a way I have not been for many years. There was the election and all the hopelessness which that engendered for many in the communities in which I move. Throughout it the days have been mainly dark and the wind and rain have howled around the streets of Edinburgh, reminding me of the season and deepening my sense of stillness and reflection. Illness has forced me to slow down. Things have been cancelled. I have spent a lot of time indoors, forced to go slow and to await a return of energy and strength.
And so I got to thinking about the season of Advent; a time Christians view as the journey towards rebirth; a time Pagans view as the journey towards the return of the light. We are in the darkest days until next weekend when we will reach the Winter Solstice, on the other side of which the days will start to get longer. And I am reminded of my personal relationship with darkness and my conviction that the dark is as much a part of the Neon spectrum as any other colour. Loss, pain, anguish, frustration, anger and more besides, are all part of this experience of being human. They have their place, however uncomfortable and unwelcome. Advent is not usually acknowledged much in this day and age. Usually it is just seen as the run up to Christmas when we all speed up in the mad dash to the festive season. But perhaps there is good reason to pause and pay attention to this particular part of the season. For it too has its place, whatever your tradition or beliefs.
As a coach I know my part is to hold a space for those with whom I work, such that they can bring their experience of the darkness, in whatever form that comes, to the coaching relationship. Sometimes it is from the depth of those very experiences that the new arc begins to take shape and a new beginning emerges. I know that as a human being, my own experience of that place can feel bleak and lonely. These days, I have also come to know that it is just one part of my experience of being human, not the whole.
And finally, I know that the return of the light is coming, that another cycle is turning, another season being reborn. And for that, I am grateful.
“Winter is with us,
Savour cold and dark,
Savour friends and feast and song
Light will come again
Light will come again”
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advent