From Planetaria Obscura July 2016
The Darkened Room
What is it about a darkened room? Lately I go out and sit in my little homemade star theater, sit in an easy chair, turn down the lights, and.. And …. I don’t turn on the stars. Now perhaps this is more a function of an imperfect star theater - I don’t have cave like total darkness. I don’t have perfectly curved surfaces. Like being outside at night, there are plenty of undulations and faint glows - but these are provided even in a perfect theater by instruments, pilot lights, and any faint illumination we choose to introduce. The effect is the same - even without stars, the room gets bigger. And bigger. Until you’d swear you are sitting in an open expanse. Even standing up destroys this effect - you have to sit down and imagine a little - your senses begin to trick you. The darkened room becomes the darkened universe. Maybe this is behind why as kids we sometimes were afraid of the dark. That closed in sense of security disappeared. But now to me, its soothing.
Sort of like, my spirit can never be contained.
The Darkened Room
What is it about a darkened room? Lately I go out and sit in my little homemade star theater, sit in an easy chair, turn down the lights, and.. And …. I don’t turn on the stars. Now perhaps this is more a function of an imperfect star theater - I don’t have cave like total darkness. I don’t have perfectly curved surfaces. Like being outside at night, there are plenty of undulations and faint glows - but these are provided even in a perfect theater by instruments, pilot lights, and any faint illumination we choose to introduce. The effect is the same - even without stars, the room gets bigger. And bigger. Until you’d swear you are sitting in an open expanse. Even standing up destroys this effect - you have to sit down and imagine a little - your senses begin to trick you. The darkened room becomes the darkened universe. Maybe this is behind why as kids we sometimes were afraid of the dark. That closed in sense of security disappeared. But now to me, its soothing.
Sort of like, my spirit can never be contained.
