The Beauty in My Small, Dark World
“Right now my world is small and dark, and here’s the beauty in that.”
When depression weighs you down, whatever it's cause, your world contracts. Some days, your world gets no bigger than your bedroom. And your light dims, so that even when the sun shines brightly outside, you are desperately grasping for the tiniest flicker of hope left inside you. With the light, goes your creativity, your expansiveness, your sense of possibility.
I'm conducting an experiment within the current small, dark world of my depression. I'm challenging myself to pick up my camera everyday and find something beautiful right in front of me. Without having to go anywhere special in search of beauty and meaning, can I find it in the very midst of my "mess"? You might say it's an attempt to befriend my depression. We'll see what happens.
On day one, I'm photographing this peace lily bloom. This houseplant hasn't bloomed for years, and now it has finally produced one beautiful, elegant flower. It gives me hope that even after long periods without flowering, a beautiful blossom may still arrive unexpectedly some day.
The Safety Within You
"Create a safe space where you can bear witness to your struggles every day.
Instead of trying to ignore or numb yourself from your internal struggles,
give yourself a place to get to know the struggles better,
without judging them, simply through observation..."
~ Maggie Lyon
