Sorrow is lightened by being brought out openly.

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Each Thursday I select a Viking quote, sometimes randomly but ofttimes based upon relevance or meaning to my life at that point in time. Despite these phrases being over a thousand years old I believe most can still offer value in modern society and I find it interesting to ponder, weigh and measure them. _{original im src}

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This week's Viking quote

Sorrow is lightened by being brought out openly - The Saga of Sigurd the Crusader and His Brothers Eystein and Olaf

Don't hide from your negative emotions lest the darkness take hold; confront them, share them and bring them into the light that the burden of carrying them can be, itself, lightened along with the negative emotions. This is basically what this Viking quote says to me, although, like always, what seems like a simple collection of words can have many meanings.

I was thinking about someone close to me who has been through a series of events that no human should be put through. It makes me sad, and simultaneously angry, to think that this bright and vibrant person carries such dark and sinister emotional turmoil on a daily basis - that they have to - and that it's due to the selfish and disgusting actions of others.

Looking at the person you'd not know it. They present like any other on the surface; just another person making their way through life. But then there's that darkness, the ever-present shadow that claws at them from the inside trying to drag them ever-downward and threatening to tear them apart.

It's a constant struggle for this person to find light.

I know, and have known, many like this; I say known for those who are no longer here. The reasons a person feels like this are as varied as people themselves. Some are stronger than others, some will never be strong and some don't understand just how strong they actually are. Those last say things like, I have no choice but to go on, and what choice to I have but to keep pushing forward. Yes, indeed. There's choice of course, but its very final.

Most of those I mention, including the specific person I write about, suffer in silence. They blame and even resent themselves and have difficulty in accepting that they are just flawed, fallible and a little broken - like us all. They make it their fault, feel unworthy, incapable and undeserving of anything but the misery someone else forced upon them and yet...they are: Worthy, capable and deserving.

I'm a seeker and that search occurs mostly within myself.

I peer into dark corners, the recesses where lurking shadows lie in wait, and I look for answers, resolution, restitution of what I have lost and yes, a little light also. Of course the search for answers often brings more questions, complications and shadows but it's the way I move things forward, or at the very least, keep things moving. The point being, is that I look to draw things out of the shadow and into the light.

I think that's what this quote could refer to in some way - the inner search for understanding, acceptance and contentment.

Yes, it could also mean that sharing a burden makes it lighter however I'm choosing to see it as opening oneself to oneself. I don't mean to indicate it is the only way to deal with negative emotions. But by gaining a better understanding of oneself, bringing feelings and emotions into the open for oneself to see more clearly a person is better placed to move them forward to resolution, acceptance and ultimately a happier life.

I recently made a comment to someone who knows darkness; "...the moment showed you that despite the lurking shadow there is always light. There can be no shadow without light".

Shadow and light, positive and negative, sorrow and joy...I don't think one could be without the other. Negatives in our lives make the positives all the more sweeter and through finding light in the darkness one can turn sorrow to joy. It's a perspective thing.

We can't look at darkness as the enemy...Think of the night sky; It's the darkness that makes the stars so beautiful. When we feel dark, when the shadow descends, we need to look for the light, the sparkling stars that lie within, and let ourselves shine.

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That's it for this week, a thousand year-old Viking quote urging us to bring our negative emotions and troubles into the light so we may better know how to move them forward to a satisfactory resolution in the pursuit of a better life.

Please feel free to disagree with my interpretation and add your own, tell me a story around this quote or topic or simply react to it and let me know what you think, how you see it, how it relates to you or someone you know.

Skol.