Darkness Feeds My Soul

As I sit here today at a table in my yard the sun is shining down on me.  I love the sunshine.  It’s healing for the body and soul.
But my head is empty.  There are no words flowing through to my paper.  My inspiration seems to sleep during the day just as I do.
I’m a night shift worker.  I have been for almost 20 years.  Since I was young I have been a child of the night.  My most productive hours begin at 5:00 in the afternoon.  Darkness is my best friend.
Often my coworkers complain about not having a “normal” life.  I hear what they’re saying but I can’t truly sympathize or understand.  What they consider “normal” feels backwards to me.
Maybe it’s because I’m an empath that I’m drawn to the peace and quiet of the dark.  The outside world shuts down.  The collective energy around me diminishes as more people fall into slumber.
Perhaps at night, without the distractions of outside life, I can hear my own soul.  In the quiet darkness I can connect with myself.  The constant hum, the din of others’ emotions, is low enough to shut out and ignore.
I’ve always felt something magic at night.  So many people fear the darkness and what it conceals. Unlike them, I feel a sense of adventure and excitement when night falls down around me.
Last night, as I drove in the dark to go pick up my nieces from work, I passed by a couple different buildings bathed in their night lights.  I felt drawn to pull into their parking lots and write in my notebook by the dim light that would shine through the window.
Of course I didn’t stop.  I had to meet the girls at 11:00.  I couldn’t leave them waiting while I followed a crazy whim to sit in an empty parking lot with a notebook and pen.
What would I have written about?  I don’t know.  But I don’t think it would have taken long before I had a page filled.  The magic of the night is like that for me.
I think during daylight hours I hear so much random chatter in my head that it’s hard to stay focused.  I may have a brilliant idea but I can’t focus enough to flesh it out.  At night I can think more clearly.
I’m sure it’s hard for “normal” people to understand me just as I can’t really understand them.  Most people need blackout curtains to sleep during daylight hours.  I snore with the sunlight on my face.
I haven’t met many people who are similar to me.  Of course I’m not the only one in the world but we must not be too common either.
We are all a necessary part of this world.  The night workers are just as important as those who work during the daylight hours.
I think the secret is to know yourself and work with your strengths.  Try to find a job that works with your natural body rhythms.  Don’t settle where you aren’t happy.  Keep looking until you are.
And don’t hesitate to pull off into dimly lit parking lots with your notebook and pen whenever you have the chance.  Random impulses such as that are what feel your soul.