Life’s Little Parallels
July 31 - August 10, 2021

Last summer, I drove 4 hours in the mountains of Mexico, it was pitch black and slightly raining. The road was a little rough and my high-lights weren’t enough to really capture the clifs that I knew were on the side of me. It was a scary experience because 1. Coming out of the town I did not have GPS or cellphone signal so I had to remember my way out of the mountains before getting to the first major town 30 minutes away. and 2. The area where I was at is known for its cocaine production, both Colombian and local cartels have set up in this area and there are stories of things getting violent and cartels blocking the roadways as things fluctuate in their politics. There is no safe way to do a U-turn in those mountains and if I were to be stopped at a roadblock, driving alone in the night there really would be nothing I could do. So I thought about this and the other very rational fear of accidentally falling off the side of the mountain in the dark (there are many crosses along the way, this is a common occurrence).

I have been somewhat scared of the dark most of my life. It’s not as persistent of a fear as when I was younger, As a child I used to sleep with a nightlight, and when I got older sometimes I’d sleep on the floor, idk why that made me feel safer. I’ve learned over the years to cope with this fear, because when I’ve wanted or needed to, by choice or situationally I’ve endured. As I drove through the mountains, thinking of moments when I’ve had to endure fears of the dark, a funny memory came to mind.

I LOVED school supply shopping as a kid. There was something so thrilling to me about organizing all my supplies and daydreaming about school. So when the list arrived one summer I begged my mom to take me to the store. I don’t remember why but that day the apartment garage where the car was stored was in pitch black darkness, so naturally my mom was like “no”. But being the persistent child I was, I proposed a solution and she accepted. If I could go into the garage and open the door that was at the other deep end (closer to the car) she would take me. She knew I was scared of the dark, so in her mind this was not going to happen.

I grabbed my dad's little handheld flashlight and a rock and went to the garage door opening trying to figure out how I was going to get to the deep end of that garage. A few times I walked in only to realize that it really was super super dark. I’m not sure how long I waited outside of that garage but at some point a car finally went in, so I saw that as my chance to go in with it. Unfortunately, this car was parked at the near end of the garage so they didn’t really provide much help. But I saw this as my chance, something about someone else being in the garage with me made me feel more at ease with the dark, so I just ran with it. Somehow I made it to the other end and propped open the door. My mom kept her end of the deal and I went school supply shopping that day.

The parallels of life are really funny sometimes, and if I pay close attention, I find that in my life there are many parallels I can look back like “hmm, interesting”. But that day, when I arrived from Mexico to my parent’s place, the same garage I had endured in my early years was also in pitch black darkness. This isn’t a common occurrence, so it was kind of like life’s little inside joke with me.