“I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.” — Hafiz
There are moments in life when everything feels dim.
Not dramatically tragic. Not catastrophic. Just… dim.
The kind of dim where you question your worth. Where you feel unseen. Where the silence in your room feels heavier than usual. Where you start wondering if maybe you’re not as strong, capable, or valuable as you once believed.
Loneliness has a way of distorting the mirror.
And yet, Hafiz suggests something radical: in the very moments when you feel most lost in darkness, there is an astonishing light within you.
Not around you. Not coming someday.
Within you.
Why We Can’t See Our Own Light
The hardest light to recognize is your own.
We’re wired to notice what’s missing. What’s lacking. What isn’t working. We replay conversations. We analyze mistakes. We measure ourselves against others’ highlight reels. Slowly, subtly, we convince ourselves that we are less than we are.
Loneliness amplifies this distortion.
When you feel disconnected, your mind begins to tell stories:
- “If I were more interesting, they’d stay.”
- “If I were more successful, I’d feel better.”
- “If I were more lovable, I wouldn’t be alone.”
But loneliness is not proof of inadequacy. It is often proof of transition.
Dark seasons aren’t verdicts — they are developments.
The seed grows in darkness long before it breaks the surface.
Darkness Is Not the Enemy
We’re taught to avoid darkness at all costs. Stay busy. Stay distracted. Stay entertained. Fill the silence.
But darkness is where depth is formed.
Think about it:
- Muscles grow after resistance.
- Wisdom grows after mistakes.
- Confidence grows after doubt.
- Compassion grows after pain.
The uncomfortable spaces — the quiet nights, the unanswered questions, the emotional heaviness — are often shaping something in you that couldn’t be formed any other way.
When everything is bright and easy, you don’t look inward.
When things dim, you’re forced to.
And what you discover there is powerful.
The Astonishing Light
What is this “astonishing light” Hafiz speaks of?
It’s your resilience.
It’s the fact that you’ve survived every difficult day you once thought you wouldn’t.
It’s your ability to love deeply, even after being hurt.
It’s your capacity to reflect, to grow, to want better.
It’s the quiet strength that keeps you going when no one is applauding.
Your light is not loud. It doesn’t always feel confident. It doesn’t always look impressive from the outside.
Sometimes your light looks like:
- Getting out of bed when you didn’t want to.
- Choosing not to send that reactive text.
- Sitting with your feelings instead of numbing them.
- Trying again after failure.
That is astonishing.
But because it feels ordinary to you, you overlook it.
You’re too close to your own brilliance to see it clearly.
How to Reconnect With Your Inner Light
When you’re in a dark season, you don’t need to “become” brighter. You need to remember.
Here are a few ways to reconnect:
1. Sit With Yourself Without Judgment
Instead of trying to fix how you feel, sit with it.
Ask:
- What am I actually feeling right now?
- What triggered this?
- What do I need in this moment?
Awareness alone begins to soften darkness.
2. Write the Evidence
Take five minutes and write down:
- Three challenges you’ve overcome.
- Three strengths people have complimented you on.
- Three moments you were proud of yourself.
Your mind forgets. Your paper won’t.
3. Serve Someone Else
Light grows when shared.
Encourage someone. Check in on a friend. Offer support. When you become a source of light for someone else, you start recognizing it within yourself.
4. Reframe the Season
Instead of asking, “Why is this happening to me?” try asking:
“What is this shaping in me?”
Pain often builds patience.
Loneliness often builds self-awareness.
Uncertainty often builds courage.
Growth rarely announces itself while it’s happening.
A Personal Truth About Darkness
There’s a strange thing about hard seasons: when you’re in them, they feel endless.
But when you look back, you see how much they changed you.
Think about who you were three years ago. Five years ago. Even one year ago.
You are not the same person.
Not because life was always easy — but because it wasn’t.
The dark seasons carved depth into you. They stripped away illusions. They forced you to rely on something stronger than external validation.
And even if you don’t feel strong right now — the fact that you are still here, still searching, still reading words like these — is proof of your light.
You Are Brighter Than You Think
You don’t have to glow constantly to be luminous.
You don’t have to feel confident to be powerful.
You don’t have to see your light for it to exist.
Sometimes, if someone could step outside of you and look back in, they would see what you can’t:
The quiet courage.
The emotional depth.
The strength beneath the softness.
The perseverance beneath the fatigue.
The astonishing light of your being.
So if you’re in a dark season right now, don’t rush to escape it.
Sit.
Breathe.
Trust.
The darkness is not proof that you are empty.
It may just be the contrast that helps you recognize how bright you truly are.
TheSpiritualExplorer 