DAY 38: The Long dark tea time of the Soul

I am a big fan of Douglas Adams. He had the wonderful ability to poke fun at everything held precious in one eloquent sentence. I have been thinking about him a lot during this story/journey/random 40 days I have decided to give up most of my vices. "The Long dark tea time of the Soul" keeps entering my mind. I am not sure why, but every morning I wake up there it is, like a whisper coming from within "The long dark tea time of the soul." I think it is a beautiful phrase, it is so simple yet it is filled with meaning. I read the book a few years ago, so I can't remember all the details, I just remember Dirk Gently and his slightly dark, slightly disillusioned take on life, but that is neither here nor there. 

I have mentioned before that I like looking for patterns, for meaning and links between things, like life is one big jigsaw puzzle waiting to be put together. I do realise that when you look for patterns you are bound to find them, that is the way the human mind works we look for meaning in things that often doesn't have meaning, like when you look at a cloud and you see a duck or whatever you were in the mood to see. Pick an object, any object, focus on it, and look for it the entire day. I can almost guarantee that you will start seeing the object everywhere, and if you want to you could even convince yourself it is a sign of some sorts, and if someone disagrees with you about the validity of the signs you can just ignore them knowing that they are simply not as sensitive as you. We see things because we look for it, but I do not think this should just be dismissed. Yes our brains work a certain way, and the patterns and signs that we see can be explained, but what fascinates me is the initial impulse, that little voice, that something that awoke the desire in you to look for these things in the first place. 

"The long dark tea time of the Soul" lead me to the "The dark Night of the Soul" a phrase that has been around for hundreds of years, but it is a recent discovery for me. Originally it was  a poem written by a 16th century Spanish poet known as Saint John of the Cross, but as time went by it was loaded with meaning and significance, a simple search will reveal this to you. The poem describes the journey of the soul from flesh to union with God, and it is considered the dark night because the destination is unknown. 

It even has a definition: 

dark night of the soul

noun

1. a period of spiritual desolation suffered by a mystic in which all sense of consolation is removed.

There is so much information about this topic, how to make it through it, and what to learn from it, and it is fascinating. What fascinates me is the chain that links so many people over such a long period of time. People who have never heard of each other, people not connected in anyway all looking for meaning in the darkness. All knowing that if you focus on the light you can make it through anything, but you are going to be changed by the time you make it to the other side. This common quest pursued by so many,  lets it appear that perhaps life really does have meaning, even if it only lies hidden in our search for it.

So I enjoy looking for patterns, and my favourite pattern is the one that indicates we are all connected, and this pattern seems to be everywhere...or maybe that is just what I want to see.