Some days, we might have trouble seeing the light. Bad things happen — someone we love dies, floods and storms ravage homes and hearts, we make a mistake and can’t seem to forgive ourselves — and we can’t find our way out. Just last week, Brave Love posted on Facebook,

In truth, good news seems to be scarce this week. On top of all of the headlines, there was an incident of brutal domestic violence in my neighborhood … All of that to say, I’m wondering if there is some good news or some brave news in your life. I would love to hear about it.

To which I responded,

I know it can feel like this sometimes, but life is brutal AND beautiful, terrible AND tender. Today, the sun is shining in Colorado, the rain has stopped, and people are helping each other deal with the aftermath of the flooding. We are reminded that when bad things happen, we can help or be helped, we are connected, and even in the darkest moment, we can be together, make each other laugh, build something that can’t be broken. ♥

To find the light doesn’t mean denying the dark. There are shadows everywhere, in and outside of us, night is every bit as natural as day. Sanity, wisdom and compassion requires that we make room for both, that we can hold and allow both. As Pema Chödrön says, “Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. They go together.”

My wish for all of us today, kind and gentle reader, is that we find the light even as we know the truth of being sad or lost, that we know we are the magic and the medicine, that we can be present and open, brave enough to touch our tender heart of sadness, stay with what Louis C.K. calls that “forever empty,” and find the light on the other (in)side.