“I have noticed that when all the lights are on, people tend to talk about what they are doing—their outer lives. Sitting round in candlelight or firelight, people start to talk about how they are feeling—their inner lives. They speak subjectively, they argue less, there are longer pauses. To sit alone without any electric light is curiously creative. I have my best ideas at dawn or at nightfall, but not if I switch on the lights—then I start thinking about projects, deadlines, demands, and the shadows and shapes of the house become objects, not suggestions, things that need to done, not a background to thought.”
Jeanette Winterson, from “Why I adore the night”
I simply love this reflection on the difference between darkness and light and the impact they each have upon us.
With the lights on, we tend to talk about externalities; within the darkness we turn inwards.
The words made me stop and think about do people argue less when it is dark, and I honestly think they do. Sitting around a fire it is quieter, the pauses are longer and I don't really recall heated discussions at all. Interesting. Oftentimes, people just sit in silence and stare.
Even the way Ms Winterson suggests that turning on a light, is like flicking a switch to action - to focus, to activity, to deadlines, projects and doings...that we lose the suggestion and the background when things are fully illuminated, is so insightful.
I wonder how easy it would be to increase those moments of quiet darkness, shadow and reflection in one's days?
What a way with words she has, and what an observer of the oft unnoticed moments she is.
More things can be spoken of in the dimness...
Cromarty 2018.
Jeanette Winterson, from “Why I adore the night”
I simply love this reflection on the difference between darkness and light and the impact they each have upon us.
With the lights on, we tend to talk about externalities; within the darkness we turn inwards.
The words made me stop and think about do people argue less when it is dark, and I honestly think they do. Sitting around a fire it is quieter, the pauses are longer and I don't really recall heated discussions at all. Interesting. Oftentimes, people just sit in silence and stare.
Even the way Ms Winterson suggests that turning on a light, is like flicking a switch to action - to focus, to activity, to deadlines, projects and doings...that we lose the suggestion and the background when things are fully illuminated, is so insightful.
I wonder how easy it would be to increase those moments of quiet darkness, shadow and reflection in one's days?
What a way with words she has, and what an observer of the oft unnoticed moments she is.
More things can be spoken of in the dimness...
Cromarty 2018.
beautiful thoughts, I love the liminal spaces of dawn and dusk
ReplyDeleteMe too Mo - those moments of almost there, not there, when it all feel so magical...
Deleteinteresting... somewhere I read that society misses the hypnotic peace humans feel staring into the fire... I certainly think all this glaring screen time, even if alone, is disrupting endocrine systems, nerves, sleep, etc.
ReplyDeleteInteresting Dee - I think it must be a 'thing'! Hypnotic is a great descriptor, mesmerising as well. Perhaps we need to enter that almost trance-like state to give our brains time to relax, and essentially breathe out...
DeleteF - interesting how she suggest that the dimness encourages creative thinking. Maybe that is why we wake up in the middle of the night and plan projects? B
ReplyDeleteB - What a great insight ... to which I would add that the sound of running water in a tub or shower is likewise capable of inspiring creative thoughts.
DeleteFiona - Thank you, as always, for your gentle dedication to Thursday Thoughts. This one triggered one of my own ... how turning off electronic/mechanical sound (TV, radio, outdoor yard equipment, ad infinitum) unclutters the mind and leaves it open to creative thoughts.
DeleteThanks B- could be exactly that! And Liz - it is true isn't it about both light and noise - light distracts, sound distracts; when we are left without cues for distraction our mind goes a'wandering...go well.
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