Dancing the Shadow

I was in a bit of a funk for a few days. It happens sometimes. And it just is what it is - not something to get hung up on or feel bad about, but something to notice, feel, give a little attention to and simply let it be. Yesterday morning, when a lot of folks were at church, I went to the park, where a crystal clear creek runs. On my last visit I had scoped out just the perfect tree to sit in, that hangs over the creek - so I am suspended in the tree, over the water, under the owls and other tree- and sky-dwelling creatures. It was a beautiful day, and just as I had hoped, I got there at the right time to have the sun shine on me while I was in the tree. It was very quiet, the only noise that stood out was the call of a hawk in the near distance. It is hard to be in a funk while at perfect peace, sitting in such a spot.

Afterward, I continued on to the coffee shop to read over some dreams from the last year and see if I could find some threads that stood out. While there, I got a phone call from a dear friend with some bad news about his health. Pretty devastating news, actually. I was speechless, and sad, and in my mind was looking for the right words to say, the right thoughts, something useful. Shit.

Any funk of mine was history, and now I was in a wholly different space. A space of expansion. The expansion that happens when our Oneness is at hand. When it is viscerally evident that we are all the same, all One, all part of the same whole. I feel it as if it were my own news - is it mine, this disease? I was muttering to myself all the way home on my bike. And when I got home I was very quiet and peaceful, feeling the expansiveness of the Oneness in a different way.

I noticed the light in the back yard - sun slanted low in the late winter afternoon. What was illuminated was a vine in a late stage of life, yellowed and yet still vibrant and alive.


And I noticed the shadow of the vine and tree, seemingly interacting with them. The tree and vine dancing with their shadows, or really vice versa. Later in the evening, still in the haze of the news from my friend, some words came in response to the images.

It is light that defines us
shadow refines us
solidity is only an illusion
we can only see our shadow
from our delusion of self
our true Self contains us
while the ego just claims us
as different, as separate, as whole
our Oneness becomes us
as we see the wholeness
that mostly eludes us
when we look as from loneness
we’ll continue this dance
with our shadows
as long as we walk in the light
and just as we dream
in the nights in between
it’s ours to keep our life bright

My dear friend is a hearty soul. I know that however his journey continues, he will meet its path wholeheartedly and steadfastly, as always, and because of this, I know he will keep whole and bright.



Oh, and if you look closely at the second photo, to the right - in the midst of the shadow - there is a door.