High fit

Brightness controls whether a person sees the hopeful side or the dark side of a situation. Ivan Lowe had his brightness turned very low for a long time — not out of pessimism, but out of self-protection. Imagining a future that might not happen hurt too much, so he stopped imagining it. Therapy started nudging the brightness up, just enough to let the idea of a long life enter the frame. He describes the fear of that glimpse vividly, which means the light was starting to reach him.