April 1st, 2009
Being walkers with the dawn and morning,
Walkers with the sun and morning,
We are not afraid of night,
Nor days of gloom,
Nor darkness–
Being walkers with the sun and morning.
– Langston Hughes
Walking with the dawn. Freedom from gloom. Mr. Hughes perfectly captures the essence of freedom. Perhaps he’s speaking of freedom from oppression and racism. Maybe it can apply to freedom from self-defeating thoughts & behaviors and past trauma too.
Learning how to walk with the dawn and morning takes effort, willingness, and faith. You might feel lacking, but most people have just enough to start the journey. Simply attending your first 12-step meeting, telling a trusted friend your private, awful secret, or making your first appointment with a therapist demonstrates your willingness to become a walker. You then have a glimpse of morning. And once you have a glimpse of the dawn and sun, it becomes just a bit more difficult to return to the night, gloom and darkness.