The damage being done to our democracy and the institutions supporting our constitution is being done in broad daylight as well as at night. Many good people are trying to survive as best they can in the shadows and on the edges even as institutionalized violence against them is becoming commonplace. Let us remember and pray for them and for those fighting non-violently for democracy here and across the world.
Our attention is naturally drawn to the light and warmth, yet we know so much natural positive life happens in the dark, the dark woods, the dark depths; or on those edges of light and dark, the shadow times, dawn or twilight, as well as the shadow places, the edges of dark and light.
Throughout my life, even as a boy I was drawn to the shade, outside the direct heat and light of the sun, among its edges. The cool and dark of the basement in our childhood home called to me in the summer, and in winter it also served as a calming private place to get away. I always felt it was fitting that most of my work as a psychotherapist was done in my comfortable, warm, but dimly lit basement office. I often remarked that rainy, cloudy, or even stormy days were most congruent with the work I did with people who often felt their feelings, even their lives, were on the edge, not sustainable or not suitable to be shared with others openly in the light of day.
Most shadows move or change, some quickly with the wind, others more slowly as they respond to the relentless passing of the light. The shadows within a life or a nation can sometimes similarly be transformed.
I suppose it Is not surprising that I feel compelled by shadows. I share a new poem responding to shadows in the Creations section https://forcryingoutlove.com/creations/. Also, the brief one minute video that the photo above was taken from can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/@ForCryingOutLove. Those fleeting nighttime shadows appeared suddenly during a neighborhood walk after a storm.
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