Sunrises & Sunsets: Perspectives on Transitions

Day and night, Dark and light. The sun rises and demystifies An otherwise dark world, Revealing all in sight. After a full day, The sun goes to sleep Inviting the denizens of life To join in chorus of restful slumber. While most take the invitation, Some remain active Providing enriching ecosystem services Preparing everyone for the sun's arrival. Right on cue, The sun rises and conducts Life's symphony, Beginning the next passage In the key of a new day.

Two Sides of The Same Coin The sun rises to light up our world daily, only to set while displaying a peacock of colors. After a good night's sleep, we wake up and prepare ourselves to take on the day, using natural light to our advantage. As the day passes, the sun sets and reduces the tempo of life to a restful pace. As a whole, we naturally gravitate towards natural light as it illuminates what hides in the dark. Light unlocks the clarity and detail of a vibrant world full of life and natural wonder. When we can see our surroundings, we feel more secure knowing exactly what's out there in plain view. In contrast, there are times when we thrive in the dark. For example, when we’re camping, we enjoy sitting around the campfire during twilight and sharing stories with those we cherish and enjoy. Some people prefer to work in the dark in some climates because they don’t have the sweltering sun pelting on them throughout the day. In war, nighttime was the perfect time for armies to advance their position and catch the enemy by surprise. However, these transitions do not happen instantaneously. Anyone who has woken up before the sun or watched the sunset over the horizon knows that these transitions are gradual. As these changes occur, we notice changes around us, such as flowers blooming, traffic picking up for rush hour, and people watching the stars in the middle of nowhere. In this next installment of Turn To Nature, we will examine how sunrises and sunsets transition the behaviors of organisms in nature and our own. We will explore what opportunities and challenges are present during these transitions and how we can make the most of our sunrises and sunsets. Daytime Flourishing Plants and green algae harness light to produce their own food through photosynthesis. These producers take light and transform that energy into their own energy reserves for growth and maintenance metabolism. In energy webs, producers are the beginning of all food sources and are consumed by primary consumers, who are then consumed by secondary consumers, etc. In addition to providing food, the sun warms the planet and influences weather patterns. When sunlight hits the Earth, most energy is deflected by the ozone layer, but the remaining energy hits molecules all around, increasing their energy and temperature. These changes in temperature also affect other aspects of climate, including wind and precipitation. As the sun rises on the land, temperatures rise gradually. Mist accrued from the night evaporates into the clouds and travels until it falls as precipitation elsewhere. Plants and flowers open up to allow more sunlight to hit their chloroplasts, which are responsible for photosynthesis. Additionally, animals know that when the sun rises, their activities must resume for them to survive. Sunlight is a vital source of energy for most of life on Earth. Without the sun, entire ecosystems would grind to a halt and break down instantly. With energy flows disrupted throughout the ecosystems, producers would die out and face extinction since they rely on the sun's energy to produce their own food.

If freezing to death doesn't kill most life instantly, the destruction of the food webs will ensure its termination. Nocturnal Preparations When the sun sets, and light gives way to darkness, the Earth doesn’t freeze over since it rotates and becomes heated on a different side. The temperatures will drop when not within sunlight; to what degree they drop depends on the geographic location and type of terrain. Life doesn’t disappear without light – it takes on a different rhythm. Most active animals in the daytime slow their tempos by using the night to rest and recharge for the next day. Nocturnal animals will experience a contrast with their daytime counterparts by being active at night. Usually, these animals rely on senses outside of sight, such as echolocation, but others may have eyes that are far more sensitive to light and utilize the moon's reflections for navigation and finding food sources. Plants also shift roles at night. While they may not be absorbing sunlight and taking in new energy, they use their energy reserves to soak up more nutrients and perform maintenance on themselves. When they can get these resources in line, plants can make the most of the sunlight they absorb the following day. Thanks to the absence of light, other ecosystem services may occur more intensely during the night. Decomposers, who generally cannot be in light or risk getting burned, are more active at night by breaking down dead organisms and wastes into nutrients to be used by plants in the soil. Moths and bats pollinate flowers to prepare them for flourishing the next day. While the night is generally less active than the daytime, nature and its inhabitants become active in a different capacity. Through engaging in periods of rest and other ecosystem services that are not ideal to conduct in the daytime, nature continues its beautiful cycles of growth and change as it prepares for the next sunrise. Bringing Together – Nox & Lux Sunrises and sunsets represent transitions in our lives. As we transition, conditions change, making what was familiar moments ago strange. Some instances of these transitions are welcome, whereas others bring about fear. Do sunrises represent good things to come, while sunsets reflect gloomier times? Not at all. Sunrises and sunsets are two sides of the same coin that bring different opportunities. Because of their cyclical nature, they cannot coexist without one another. Sunrises can come with their adversarial side effects, while sunsets provide much-needed change. Too much sunlight can lead to organisms dying from scorching heat or radiation overdoses. Likewise, sunsets provide a resting atmosphere to allow organisms to rest and repair in preparation for new challenges the next day. ing Sunrises & Sunsets On Our Opportunities Sunrises represent new opportunities that allow us to come more alive in our lives. These opportunities can be significant to our trajectories, including dating someone new and exciting, a key career transition, or another major life transition. Likewise, the length between our sunrises and sunsets can be short-lived, such as a vacation or an excursion across the state. Unlike traditional days with set sunrises and sunsets, the time between our transitions varies from one event to another. In most instances, when the sun rises on one opportunity, the sun must set on something else. As we leave a previous job, we allow the sun to set on that opportunity for it to rise on something else, whether it’s another job, an entrepreneurial venture, or transitioning into retirement. Sometimes, these sunsets are unforeseen and may be caused by a change in the economy that causes layoffs or business closures. Often, it's more important than anything how we respond to the transitions between sunrises and sunsets that define our character and how others perceive us. Life will have its own sunrises and sunsets that we cannot control, but we can choose how we respond to and acclimate to them. Preparing For Sun Rises As we are aware of new opportunities, we tend to go into preparation mode. Our preparation will look unique for each of us, but there are some trends that we tend to follow as we prepare to seize the new day: #1 - Reflect On Previous Transitions When faced with a new opportunity, we often compare it to older opportunities. As a result, we create an exhaustive list of possibilities. Some of us tend to hyperfocus on what might go wrong. Therefore, it is important to face our previous and current transitions as objectively as possible. We should celebrate our victories as they occur, but learn from our shortcomings to make better decisions. Nothing will hinder us more than shutting ourselves off from opportunities due to a mishap in our own history. We increase our chances of being better prepared to transition smoothly by assessing our opportunities as they arise. #2 - Prepare Due Diligence It is important to build on our reflections and prepare our own due diligence on the opportunities in front of us so that we can plan to transition into them appropriately. We must accurately assess the context, timing, people, and other major factors that affect our transitions. It may be helpful to look at our new opportunities as a fresh start, but harnessing wisdom from our reflections is important to avoid pitfalls that could occur when transitioning through our next personal sunrise. #3 - Rest Up An often overlooked aspect of preparing for personal sunrises is the power of rest. We often hallucinate scenarios of our competitors working nonstop around the clock to take opportunities away from us, like kids getting their candy stolen. These façades defeat the purpose of rest and lead to absolute exhaustion. Consequently, we cannot think clearly when the opportunity becomes immediately present, and the well-rested competitor will swipe it away. Therefore, it’s important to rest optimally. We do not want to get lazy and indulge in rest, but we don't want to overcompensate by working until we crash and burn. After our sunsets, we need to wind down, create a save point in our work, and rest accordingly so that when the sun rises, we're fresh and ready to go! Preparing For Sun Sets As we have experienced with sunrises, we must also prepare to transition into our own sunsets. While it's easy to work right up until the last minute, it’s imperative to give ourselves cues and a routine to follow when it’s time to settle down and get ready for rest. #1 - Focus On What’s Important When sunset is upon us, that means our time is limited; a finite number of minutes are ticking before the light gives way to darkness. Therefore, we need to make these minutes count. Given that it's impossible to do everything, we must decide and focus on what's important. By prioritizing, we can prepare our remaining energy to make as much progress as possible and take the baton even further to be handed off to our future selves tomorrow. #2 - Go All Out There’s nothing more satisfying than ending the day with a bang. By going all out, we expend what leftover pent-up energy we have on important projects that make us feel the most alive. How we go all out will look different for each of us. For some people, it may be a flamboyant show of doing as much as possible before the sun's final curtain. For others, it may be double-checking that everything is done and closing our shops. No matter what it looks like for each of us, we must commit to spending the remaining energy as we prepare for sunset. The old saying goes that tomorrow is never guaranteed. #3 - Dial It All Back When the sun sets on an opportunity, the doors can either close permanently or for a short amount of time. As such, we need to ensure that we are either at peace with the results or create saving points for us to pick back up during the next sunrise. As we wind down, we need to get into a routine to signal to ourselves that it's time to turn it down. When we go to bed, we normally have a routine that prepares us for sleep. In the same way, with our own personal sunsets, we need to establish a routine that internalizes that it's time to wind down. When conducted properly, we can get adequate rest and be more able to invest in future opportunities. Make The Most Of Each Sunrise & Sunset Sunrises and sunsets are transitional signals that we should either prepare for the day ahead or dial back and take a breather. Nature is a perfect example of how to capitalize on sunrises and sunsets. While some organisms are more active at night, large organisms become more active in the daytime, and plants bloom. However, both day and night are essential to organisms' longevity and ecosystems. In our personal lives, sunrises and sunsets are major opportunities. These transitions coexist as two sides of the same coin and are unavoidable. Recognizing how to take advantage of these transitions appropriately increases our chances of living meaningful lives for our long-term journeys. What sunrises and sunsets have you experienced in your life? Leave a comment below.