Well, hello there. It's Morgan Harper-Nichols here, and today's episode, I want to start off with a poem

that I wrote called The Dark Center of a Sunflower. The Dark Center of a Sunflower often overlooked

in favor of its more vibrant outer layers, even though the center is where

the flower seeds are produced. Seeds encased in a hard shell that protects them from damage,

the center contains all of the nutrients that the plant needs to grow.

This poem was written to tell the story of the dark center of a sunflower,

which is often overlooked in favor of the bright yellow vibrant outer layers.

Because of course, the bright yellow petals catch our attention as they shine brightly in the day,

but there in the center is the source of the flower's life.

In the center, in the dark center of the sunflower, the flowers' seeds are produced.

And as I think about crossing the threshold into a new year, when I think about even a lot of the celebrations around New Year, at least in the traditions that I've grown up in

in the U.S. is you start at night. There is darkness because you are bringing in the new year

at midnight. And of course we have in our modern times city lights, we are able to see what's around us because of all of the

lights and then of course you know even moonlight with moonlight and stars you can see the landscape but in

general it's still much darker at nighttime than it is at daytime in most places in the world. And what's so fascinating

about that is that even, and I'm saying this is someone who doesn't go out and celebrate New Year's

Eve anywhere. I'm always at home. But even then, there is a sense of awakeness, people being awake

at night and waiting with anticipation to celebrate crossing over into something new, even in the

middle of shadows and a dark sky.

And what I find so poetic about that, I just can't ignore it.

I just can't ignore it, is that how courageous it is when we're able to do that in our lives, when we're able to stand underneath

a dark sky in anticipation and say, I don't know what's next, but I'm here and I kind of want to

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