Live Each Day like an Equinox

During the equinox, the length of night and day across the world is almost, but not entirely, equal. This is because the day is slightly longer in places that are further away from the equator, and because the sun takes longer to rise and set in these locations. What's more, the sun takes longer to rise and set farther from the equator because it moves in a horizontal direction, rather than setting straight down.

Live Each Day like an Equinox (A letter to my son on the Autumnal Equinox 2010)

As you discover your way in this world, you’ll realize the inequality in nature. You may find it difficult to reconcile why

the homeless,

the penniless,

the hopeless,

the artless, and

the heartless

persist on the planet. 

Along the way, you may lash out with anger at the injustice – no surprise if you’re a high-voltage-drama-human like your father and me. By the time you can read this passage, you’ll know that your father and I don’t always agree, nor you with him or you with me. You’ll have ideas disparate from our viewpoints and different manners and methods too. As it goes, through the seasons the kaleidoscope of parental advice may seem to spin without relent. 

Yet I hope one shard of wisdom pierces your being – first, accept that nature, by nature, is unfair and lopsided much of the time. Act and react, as best you can, with compassion and courage, not ire and hatred. Last of all, in this life, please take pause each equinox and remember that dark and light are rarely in balance. If truth be told – the equinox – is no different. Day and night are not equal; they are merely meeting in the middle.