UPSIDE DOWN

Many of us have faced the darkness of the world we live in.

It’s like sinking into the deep ocean where the darkness pulls you in, and the pressure threatens to crush every cell in your body. Coldness creeps in, chilling you to the bone. The weight of the world presses against your chest.

You sink deeper, and the darkness thickens with every metre; the pressure tightens its grip, unrelenting.

It tests you, overwhelms you, leaving you scared, disheartened, devastated, and tempted to give in to fear, to give up in despair.

But, as in freediving, fighting it fiercely at depth only worsens the struggle. The pressure and darkness are ruthless and persistent. Instead, you accept them. You turn inward, find your calm and glide through, feeling the soft water brush over your eyelids.

Then it dawns on you: it is because you have this extraordinary capacity to dive deep that you are now touching and being enveloped by this darkness. Deep enough to witness humanity’s true face, to see the shadows lurking beneath carefully curated facades.

But you will not let it consume or corrupt you. This descent has granted you a more nuanced understanding of the world, a world where darkness is ever-present. And yet, it is precisely this darkness that sharpens the unyielding light within you, the light that shines on what is real.

You emerge from the dark depths, break free with grace as you rise above the surface, and take in full breaths of fresh air, each one making you stronger, fresher, and more resilient.

The darkness remains, but now it is no longer your weight to bear - it’s a reminder of what you have overcome and a spark to your creative fire.

And then you wonder, was it truly you who was upside down, or was it the world all along?