Good problems and mushrooms of certain kinds have something in common; they grow in clusters.

It’s not nice to think of children growing up like mushrooms, in the dark.

But reality has too much darkness in it. Too many crows

I split problems into two groups: muddy puddles and leaky ceilings.

Some problems are like muddy puddles. The way to clear a muddy puddle is to leave it alone. The more you mess with it, the muddier it becomes. Many of the problems I dream up when I'm overthinking or worrying or ruminating fall into this category. Is life really falling apart or am I just in a sour mood? Is this as hard as I'm making it or do I just need to go workout? Drink some water. Go for a walk. Get some sleep. Go do something else and give the puddle time to turn clear.

Other problems are like a leaky ceiling. Ignore a small leak and it will always widen. Relationship tension that goes unaddressed. Overspending that becomes a habit. One missed workout drifting into months of inactivity. Some problems multiply when left unattended. You need to intervene now.

Are you dealing with a leak or a puddle?

There is no reason why because it is dark you should look at things differently from when it is light.

Put out the light and there is stumbling in the dark.

Things that lurk in the shadows do not like the light. People get used to one tiny light and begin to seek out more of it in the world and in themselves – that’s how the light liberates us.

Such are the laws of nature and balance. An if we look at the darkness growing in the world today, we have to realize that this means there is equal light growing.

Dark clouds bring waters, when the bright bring none.

Like plants, so men also grow, some in the light, others in the shadows. There are many who need the shadows and not the light.

good ideas seem to require some kind of shade or shadow, they don't survive direct sunlight or brightly-lit places

If you're solving someone else's problem, you're constantly stabbing in the dark. When you solve your own problem, the light comes on.

Now one thing is annoying and no one can change this. It is that the days are so horribly short because of the dark weather. Sketching and [?] is still possible to do, but to look closely and to reproduce subtle hues and shades would now be completely impossible. Especially in the Museum it is sometimes really dark. (translation from the Dutch original: Fons Heijnsbroek)

Why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn’t as bright as it could be.