Moving with the Times

            As the colder weather moves in, so do we. Some outdoor activities must be cancelled, others can be moved indoors. Such is the case with the exercise routine my wife and I finally got in to this year.

            Some of you may remember me talking about Zombies, Run! earlier this year, which helped Colleen and I get into a regular routine of running. Sadly, that has had to grind to a halt as temperatures drop more and more.

            Exercise is important, though, so we’ve shifted to a new indoor routine! Now, on every morning we would normally be running, we’ve switched to playing Dance Dance Revolution and Just Dance games.

            It’s a good combination for exercise because Dance Dance Revolution is a video game that focuses on foot movement, while Just Dance has an emphasis on arm movement. Together, they provide quite the workout.

            It also turns out to be a good combination for us because each of us is better at one of them. Having spent a summer playing Dance Dance Revolution all the time, I’ve gotten to be quite good at it (I’m a bit rusty after years of not playing. When I was still in practice, I went on a drama department school trip to England and astounded my classmates when we went to the arcade. I was quiet and reserved, so I really took them by surprise when I stepped onto the dance mat). However, for some reason, I just can’t seem to get the dance moves right on Just Dance (I suspect it’s the way I hold the Wii-mote).

            Colleen, on the other hand, lacks my Dance Dance Revolution experience, yet excels at Just Dance. It works out well because, with how competitive the games are designed to be, there’s no point watching how one of us always has a higher score in one game because it will switch when we change games.

            So, the exercise routine will continue indoors. I just feel sorry for my sister-in-law whose bedroom is below the room we’re dancing in.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

What is it About Darkness?

            Colleen was out of the country with her family for most of the week, leaving me at home and in charge of the various animals in the house (For those who don’t regularly follow this blog, I live with my in-laws with the house separated into two separate units). It was on an overcast night when I was taking the dog out before bed that I noticed just how dark it was. We live out in the country, so the only lights around at night are the ones on the houses. Outside the bubble of light from the house, the rest of the one-acre property was almost completely black.

            My stomach clenched in its way of saying, “We’re not really going out there, are we?” while the dog tugged playfully at the end of his leash. It struck me, then, how much instinct we have built into our system – and close to the top of those instincts is a fear of the dark.

            I found myself wondering why that is. The answer is obvious for if we look to the past, before we had all this technology – back then, there was a lot of danger out in the darkness. Now, though, we've tamed the world. At least, the parts we live in. There’s almost no chance of a threat being out there.

            Yet, still, our instincts tell us to freeze – to stay in the safety of the light. We know it is safe. In my case, I even had a dog with me, with senses far better than mine, showing no signs of distress.

            Still, I hesitated. My instincts told me not to go. I realized that it was more about the uncertainty than the darkness itself. I'm used to being able to see everything around me, of knowing when there was a threat. What the darkness hid wasn't something I was afraid of, but the potential of something – anything – being out there. The fear wasn't of the dark, but of the inability to know for certain everything was fine, even though I was already certain.

            Once I left the “safety” of the light, my eyes started adjusting to the darkness. It wasn't so much that I could see everything, but I could see enough to feel comfortable and confident. That’s when I realised there could be something more behind our innate fear of darkness.

            Our ability to create light.

            Ever since we discovered how to make fire, humans have been able to control light and banish the darkness. Our instincts became based around staying in the light, where we could see clearly. Meanwhile, those same instincts gradually forgot that by being out in the darkness for just a little while, our eyes adjust and we can actually see fairly well. So, we keep to the light.

            The ironic part is that someone (or something) out in the dark can actually see more than someone in the light. More than that, from the darkness, someone in the light sticks out as a clear target.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.