The Light at the End of the Tunnel

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

by Mario A. Campanaro

We’ve all heard the saying, “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” but is there? Or is there just a tunnel full of events that challenge us to cope with random or, for my spiritual folk, karmic circumstances the best we can?

While we may hope for a favorable outcome, the truth is that we don’t always get what we want, nor do we always get what we need. Sometimes, life happens—and it can be pretty crummy. Sometimes life is heartbreaking. Sometimes, it’s unbearable.

And yet, all the while, the ironic financially stable gurus, published by the finest publishers, sell their theories of "new age trends" like, “Through our suffering, we find the path to enlightenment.” Am I guilty of that? Probably. Actually, yes. I’ve been known to try to alchemize reality to find a silver lining, to convince myself and others that there’s some transformative magic within difficult circumstances—a remedy for the common good. And sometimes there is.

Sometimes people make it through the most heinous circumstances and are blessed with knowledge that helps the collective. But sometimes there isn’t. And that’s a hard pill to swallow, isn’t it? Sometimes we see or are given information we don’t want to know. Sometimes, we just need to get real about things.

Life is not always a fairytale, and 99% of the roles we’ll ever play will be about an individual doing all they can to improve their circumstances. This is a fact of the human condition that we, as artists, must be open to revealing—the struggles of the human experience, including suffering.

Sometimes we need to blow out the candles, snuff out the incense, throw away the sage, chuck the oracle cards at the wall, and really look—with our hearts—at tangible reality. Sometimes, the cards people are dealt are nowhere near the full house they had hoped for. Sometimes there’s no house at all, but only a tunnel that echoes thoughts and questions in an earnest quest for life’s greatest mysteries, stimulating the creative process.

As artists, we must face unanswerable questions about suffering, greed, poverty, war, disease, trauma, lovelessness, abuse, darkness, addiction, and even the new pandemic of “narcissism.” Do I have the answers to these questions? Hell no! Not at all! What do I know? I just work here. But we have to be willing to see the questions because they’re all around us.

We must be aware of them if we genuinely care about the state of humanity. We can’t be scared to confront these questions because it’s the job we signed up for. Yet, no matter how hard we dig, we must be willing to accept that there will always be unanswerable questions. Life will always be in a state of flux, and there will always be suffering somewhere in the world.

And yet, you’re probably reading this, hoping for some statement that will reveal the promised light at the end of the tunnel. But that’s just my point. Sometimes there isn’t a light, and as artists, we must do our part in revealing the struggles humans go through to bring awareness to these unanswered circumstances. Otherwise, it’s just a tunnel we’re walking or running through, not knowing where it leads or what it means.

The facts are: Sometimes we are with good people. Sometimes, not so much. Sometimes we’re with compassionate people. Sometimes, we’re with people living with agendas. Sometimes we walk with those who use troubling circumstances for the greater good, and sometimes we walk with those who exploit them. Sometimes we walk with trust, and sometimes we walk with cautious discernment. Sometimes, people walk with us to wherever the tunnel leads, and sometimes, they fade away.

Sometimes it will bring treasures. Sometimes it will bring trauma. Sometimes it will please. Sometimes it will disappoint. And within all those circumstances, the answer is: there is no answer. It is what it is. We don’t know why, but we know it happens.

While we live in a filtered world—one that creates the prettiest, most perfect selfies, hiding any "flaw," sharing our abs, our showbiz smiles, and chasing validation through likes on social media—we ignore the fact that we’re not OK with what is. We’re not OK with the questions because we don’t want to face the answers. We’re scared of them, because they threaten the perfect, artificial picture we’ve created to manufacture a dopamine or serotonin boost.

We don’t even want to face the questions anymore. So, we hold on to the theory of a light at the end of the tunnel, ignoring the chaos that’s begging to be noticed. We skip the most important step. We numb ourselves with artificial affirmations, avoiding the reality of what’s going on here and now.

As artists, we have to be willing to face the reality of things, no matter how scary, unpleasant, or dark they may be. That’s our job—to see what others aren’t willing to see, to face what others are afraid to face, to step into the trenches and confront the human condition, head-on, mask-free, in all its grit and glory. Because that’s what life is: a series of moments defined by both grit and glory.

And if we’re lucky, sometimes we find ourselves somewhere in the middle. It’s all about allowing the questions and being OK with the answers, whether they come with favorable or unfavorable responses—or even with no response at all. Whatever the case, I encourage you to walk through this beautifully complicated life tunnel without expectations, but with awareness and compassion. Allow yourself the willingness to experience it for what it is in all its authenticity and then be willing to share that authenticity through your work.

Copyright © 2025 Mario A. Campanaro, All rights reserved."