Darkness and Light

Aloha Island School ʻOhana,

This time of year holds different celebrations of light. Even here in our island home, we can feel sunset coming earlier, sunrise coming later. The night simply is longer. Seasons, the shifting of our natural world, have created traditions across cultures in every society. We carry those traditions with us when we relocate, and we take on the traditions of our new home when we settle in and embrace where we are. 

An example of this kind of celebration that I came to know when I lived in San Francisco and celebrated with my students there was Diwali, which those who observe this day celebrated this past Monday. Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other South Asian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolizes the spiritual victory of Dharma over Adharma, light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. In Hawaiʻi, this is a special time for our ʻaʻo, or Hawaiian shearwater. The shifting moon and seasonal darkness, particularly during October, is a time when the chicks are leaving their burrows and are in particular danger from artificial light. The November season will mark the start of the Makahiki season, with us hosting our own games on campus on November 7th. And of course, the earlier darkness leads us to Halloween next week! As this season of growing darkness comes, I want to offer to you a poem that inspired me: “Holding the Light”

Holding the Light 

by Stewart Kastenbaum

Gather up whatever is
glittering in the gutter,
whatever has tumbled
in the waves or fallen
in flames out of the sky,

for it’s not only our
hearts that are broken,
but the heart
of the world as well.
Stitch it back together. 

Make a place where
the day speaks to the night
and the earth speaks to the sky.
Whether we created God
or God created us

it all comes down to this:
In our imperfect world
we are meant to repair
and stitch together
what beauty there is, stitch it 

with compassion and wire.
See how everything
we have made gathers
the light inside itself
and overflows? A blessing.

Perhaps you see this message as a literal one, one that reminds us to safely make our way through the longer nights due to the changing season. Or maybe you feel this message as more of a symbolic one, knowing different events in our lives and our world can feel heart-heavy and dark and at times we might choose to grow comfortable in that darkness and other times we seek out the light we need. 

Our lives carry so many different moments of light and darkness…whether we are 3 or 18, 22 or 82. I wish for each of you as you make your way through it all that you see Island School as a place where you can seek support when you are making your way through darkness and where you can find a community that honors your light.

Mahalo nui loa, as always, for choosing us to join you and your ‘ohana through the voyage that lies ahead guided by the bright-shining stars in the dark sky.

Together,

Nancy Nagramada P’29

Head of School

n.nagramada@ischool.org