Afraid of the dark

I was the kid who was always afraid of the dark. Closet doors had to be shut and the nightlight on before I could peacefully curl up and sleep at night.

Although I’ve grown out of my monster-in-the-closet fears at bedtime, I’ve come to realize there’s an even more powerful darkness we encounter as adults — living in a broken world with heartache and disappointments.

Maybe it’s the unexpected loss of a job. Or a miscarriage. A terrible breakup. The slow, painful drip of “minor” slights. A long-term illness.

Empathy is leaning into those dark moments and being present with a friend or colleague in their darkness.

And we can only do that if we’re willing to face our own fear of the dark.

“No one reaches out to you for compassion or empathy so you can teach them how to behave better. They reach out to us because they believe in our capacity to know our darkness well enough to sit in the dark with them.” — Brené Brown, Daring Greatly