Imagine a pitch-dark room with shut windows and closed curtains. No air circulates. No sun rays filter through the blinds. The only constant is a weighty darkness that feels palpable. It's hard to see, move, or even think clearly in these conditions.
Sometimes, our emotions can have us feeling like we are trapped in a room with closed windows and drawn curtains. Depression, anger, anxiety, grief, or guilt can have us locked in a solitary space filled with what appears to be unending midnight. With no fresh breeze or sunshine, we feel suffocated by our sorrows and agitations. We live our days internally curled up in a ball, dulled in a stupor, fearful of shadows that lurk in the corners, or disturbed by monsters that hide under our places of rest. We are unable to imagine that daylight exists on the other side of our window panes. Or, we know the sunshine is there, but we believe we are condemned to only experience a lifetime of living in a dark place.
Therapy can help. If you can believe that there's even a one percent chance that light can fill your room, you are already on the road toward healing. Even if you cannot see the road of restoration clearly, one glimmer of hope can provide enough light for you to walk (or crawl, if needed) to your closed window to begin the task of opening it.
A therapist can help remind you there is light and that you are still alive and worthy to see it. You've been gifted another sunrise. Much as a darkroom develops photos, perhaps your dark room can transform into a room of purpose to develop you.
It may take some squinting to see the slivers of sun rays at your curtain's edge. It may take some energy, maybe even some discomfort, as you flex long-forgotten muscles to begin pushing back the shades, to begin pushing up the pane. To begin pushing away the pain. However, a little light is enough to guide you. Even an inch of a window's opening will bathe your room with fresh air and cleansing illumination. The more you push, the more you'll see, and the easier it will be to see the horizon and breathe.
Breathe. Blink in the sunshine. Even if just a little. That little is enough to get started.
Crack your window. Call for help. It is possible for daylight to make it to your room.
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