Interlude: light & shadow
We tend to speak of light and darkness as if they were opposites, even opponents.
I prefer to speak of light and shadow.
Light is what comes to me from the Real that I can already to some extent understand.
Shadow is what comes to me from the Real that I do not yet understand.
They are all of a thing.
Image source:
“Playground (Winter walk IV),” by Mike Shell (2/27/2026).
Without light there can be no shadow.
Without something to create a blockage to create a gradated lack of light there can be no shadow.
Consider the light from the winter sun filtering through snow covered branches on the trees in the Boston Common creating a lacework pattern of gray on the ground one soft morning where no one has yet disturbed the pillowy white.
Everything works together. The sun that creates what our eyes recognize as light.
In the total darkness of a a deep cavern there is no shadow, only the feel of the floor under our feet and the feel of the walls against our fingers. There is nothing our eyes can perceive. It is an experience that is based on perceived touch and any sounds from our footsteps or whatever is down there from animals to underground rivers.
Total darkness simply requires different senses to process it.
Shadow is an intermediary.
I appreciate this unexpected thought, or rather, heartfelt insight. and your photo gave me a smile. Thank you Mike!