We Grow Accustomed to the Dark Uncertainty Quotes

New situations can be pretty disorienting at first. Here, that uncertainty is like the first steps we take into the night after being inside a lit room. Our eyes aren’t yet able to make sense of things, just like our minds mind not be ready to make sense of a new situation without a little time for adjustment.

If there was any doubt that Dickinson was speaking figuratively, it ends here; the darkness is all in our head. Our mental confusion when presented with something new can leave us “in the dark,” so to speak. The thing about evenings, though, is that the sun goes down gradually, giving us plenty of time to adjust. Does that contradict the sudden darkness that Dickinson is using as a metaphor for the unknown?

The bravest, she says, don’t turn back when they feel uncertain. They push ahead, into the darkness. Unfortunately, that means they sometimes run right smack into an obstacle, perhaps even hurting themselves. Is this a warning to turn back, or does she seem to admire this quality? After all, who knows what lies inside the unknown. Perhaps Dickinson didn’t want us all to run willy-nilly into new situations without being aware that they don’t always turn out perfectly.