No such thing as darkness

For some reason a discussion I had many years ago popped into my head yesterday.  The conversation was me trying to convince my sister that there is no such thing as dark - only absence of light.  I have no idea why I recalled that conversation yesterday.  It just made its way to the front of my consciousness.

Since the idea came up, I thought I might as well think it over for a few moments.  In doing so, it became freshly clear to me how awful it would be if dark were really a positive element that existed in the world.  Can you imagine a real, true cloud or wave of darkness coming at you?  Not pleasant.

Instead, we revel in watching the light disappear in the evening and talk about darkness creeping in.  But what we really mean is that the light is creeping away.  So much more pleasant than if darkness were really the creeping thing.

Privations like darkness and cold are things we take for granted, and it probably rarely becomes evident to us that they are, in fact, privations.  There is so much room to apply this in any way that is meaningful to you.  So I'll leave preachy parts out.

To me, it means (among other things) that it is pleasant to watch the sun go down.  That this interplay between dark and light is like watching a daily drama unfold on the stage.  Less often witnessed, but just as wonderful, is the reverse process - light creeping over the darkness to start a new day.