Let There Be Shadow

Let There Be Shadow

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” —Johann Wolfgang von Gogh Goethe

As we begin a new year, and the teen years of the millennium, there is a great deal of talk, longing and intention around new beginnings, fresh starts, new leaves, new chapters and so forth.

Let a new day dawn.    I am all for that.

Let the new page be started, the new leaf turned,  the fresh chapter embarked upon, longed for beginnings begun, and previously stalled starts started.  Let’s find that rainbow at the end of the storm, that light at the end of the tunnel.

But, let’s not forget, as the writer Goethe so pithily yet eloquently states, where there is light, there must also be shadow…and vice versa…we cannot have one without the other.

So, when confronted with the shadow side of our own natures,

even our own gifts,

 the coolness of the shade that we need as respite  from the sun,

and the shadow of our own fears, challenges, anxieties and struggles in the so-called dark,

as we move towards the light of fulfilling our longings and realizing our dreams,

let us remember that “Shadow owes its birth to light.” ( –-John Gay),

and not be stumped,

stopped,

or stupefied by

its presence,

but know…

that shadow will always be there…

a companion on our journey….

needing

to be acknowledged,

insisting,

on making its presence known,

 

so that we can continue

to feel the glory

of the light.

Here’s to 2013!