Bleak is one of those words that does not rush at you. It sits. It lingers. It looks around the room and makes itself comfortable. It does not scream like terror or shout like anger. It simply lowers the lights and waits.
Bleak is not pitch dark. If it were, at least you would know where you stood. Darkness has honesty about it. Bleak is more cunning. It allows just enough light to tease you. Just enough brightness to remind you of what used to be. It is that half lit room where shadows stretch longer than they should and corners seem to whisper.
A bleak landscape is not empty. It is filled with tired hope. With grass that wants to be green again. With skies that are unsure whether to rain or clear. Bleak minds are the same. Not despairing enough to give up, not hopeful enough to rejoice. Suspended. Waiting. Breathing shallow breaths.
And then there is that word hidden inside bleak that refuses to stay quiet. Trying.
Darkness trying to engulf. Trying means effort. Trying means resistance. Trying means there is a force it has not yet conquered. That is where hope sneaks in quietly and takes a seat.
But here is where we make a common mistake. We think effort will do it. We think if we push harder, think brighter thoughts, chant stronger slogans, grit our teeth and smile through it, the bleak will retreat. It does not. Darkness does not respond to strain. You cannot wrestle it away. You cannot argue it into submission.
Darkness only understands one language. Light.
You do not chase darkness out of a room. You switch on the light. Instantly, without negotiation, darkness leaves. Not because it wants to, but because it has no choice.
That is why those words land with such force. Words from the holy scriptures: ‘I am the Light of the world.’
Not a torch you carry that can flicker and fail. Not a candle you must shield from the wind. Light itself. The kind that does not struggle. The kind that does not try. The kind that simply is.
When that Light enters a bleak heart, something remarkable happens. Bleak begins to tremble. It loses its confidence. Those grey stretches start to crack. Shadows retreat into corners where they belong. What once felt heavy starts to feel honest. Pain is still named, but it no longer rules.
Bleak breaks. Not into chaos, but into clarity. Into perspective. Into a light so real that even the memory of darkness cannot overpower it.
If bleak has made itself at home in your world, do not shout at it. Do not panic. Do not exhaust yourself fighting it. Simply open the door.
Beckon the Light in.
Watch how bleak, that smug, silent intruder, gathers its things and leaves without a word.
And the room, once uncertain, begins to glow…!
The Author conducts an online, eight session Writers and Speakers Course. If you’d like to join, do send a thumbs-up to WhatsApp number 9892572883 or send a message to bobsbanter@gmail.com
