Pushing through The Shadow & Opening to The Light…
“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Shadow Meets Light: Nasirol Molk Mosque... sparkling heart lights...
At different points in our creative lives, we might go through moments of crystal clarity or contagious confusion as we follow our hearts calling. Many voices, views, even vampires compete for our attention and we must address them all; individually. With finality.
The shadow likes to throw its cast net and capture weak and tired souls. The shadow likes to cast its spell, wear us down and pull us slowly into its lair. We ask: How does it lure us? Distractions. indictments. inaccurate observations. Push back, push through the shadow’s veil. The shadow mirrors all our fears…
Behind the shadow is the light; that glorious candle in our hearts. It welcomes us; reassures us that all is well. Attractions. exoneration. astute observations. Resist the temptation to walk back to that familiar place… For the light is not the shadow; though both inside us dwell. The light escorts us to the candle and lights the fire in our hearts. Don’t worry, and don’t be so serious, a little insouciance a long way will go…
Today, the shadow called my name. “Sit down and visit for the day…” I fought the urge to sit and chat. It whined and wept; it pranced and danced, weaving words like a bazaar seller on the street. “Sit down my dear, tarry here my dear and rest your weary bones. Put your feet up, Take a break, a very long break.”
I thought about it long and hard… I lingered longer in the dark. I knew the lure would tie me down and wreak all havoc on my plans. The light is where I want to be. The light is where you might want to be… The candles in our hearts agree. Say, why don’t you join me… There is a candle in your heart… light it and then let’s read and write. Let’s celebrate the gift of light. Join me? What are your thoughts? See more below. Khalil Gibran & Rumi. Plus additional photo. 🙂
“God has placed in each soul a true guide to the light, but man struggles to find life outside himself, unaware that the life he is seeking is within him.” Kahlil Gibran
Shadow and Light: Somewhere in there resides our creative life...
There is a Candle in Your Heart by Mowlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi
There is a candle in your heart,
ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul,
ready to be filled.
You feel it, don’t you?
You feel the separation
from the Beloved.
Invite Him to fill you up,
embrace the fire.
Remind those who tell you otherwise that
Love
comes to you of its own accord,
and the yearning for it
cannot be learned in any school.
Happy Chinese New Year – Year of the Rabbit!
How do you find balance in your creative life? Between the shadow (distractions) and the light (attractions)? Where does your creativity find rejuvenation and rest?
Positive Motivation Tip: Embrace the fire of your creative heart; the shadow and the light both play their part.
Related Articles
- The Groundhog isn’t the only one that should look for his shadow (psychologytoday.com)
- Eating Your Shadow, In Honor of Groundhog Day (psychcentral.com)
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: Nasir ol Molk mosque by Zereshk via Wikipedia
Young Stars in the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud via Wikipedia
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
I really really like you blog. I love that it has pictures to help get your point across. The writing though is even better. You should take a look at my blog. 🙂 Tell me how I am doing.
Sincerely,
Emily Smith.
Thanks for stopping by Emily… I appreciate your comment 🙂
Will visit your blog shortly to say hello!
Best,
Eliz
I hope you will not be overwhelmed by snow there, near New York 🙂
read my article
http://flickrcomments.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/reset-button/
SNOW as a reset-button 🙂
Oh and then I wrote about it. LOL! It is dreadful… but I’m developing a new perspective about it all; to go with the weather. 🙂
Eliz
Oh her writings are fully available in English though it would be great to find out what was lost in translation, right? Thank you Don.
And the “Heart is a lonely hunter” [sometimes] Carson Mccullers, but those isolating times is when you look to that inner candle. Thanks E
Hey Rose, Yep, the dark night of the soul doesn’t want company at all… solitude, isolating times sounds like they are right up its alley. By the way, did you go out for dark roast coffee with the relatives? Oh wait, the tarts were in Chicago right? Thanks!
E
Enjoyed the above, here are my thoughts on: “God has placed in each soul a true guide to the light, but man struggles to find life outside himself, unaware that the life he is seeking is within him.”
My soul-searching experience is/was very positive , however, the light deep within, eventually, hit a reflective surface that put me back out in the environment; the same environment that originally lacked significance and meaning, at that point, transformed itself into an all encompassing significant meaning. Just thought you might like to know.
I like that and would love to know more about your journey… I think about people who are deeply affected by events in their lives that make them challenge the status quo. It usually comes with huge transformations so I am curious. There is a gem in that growing germ 🙂
Will stop by and say hello shortly!
E
I am astonished, that you know Elisabeth Kubler-Ross – she usually writes in German language 🙂
She has been translated into other languages including English. I read her works years ago. She is an internationally recognized writer. 🙂
Thank you, Eliz, for inviting us to look into the shadows. It made me think more deeply about that…and considering it in that “light”, perhaps the light is our “comfort zone” and the shadows contain our possibilities. It may be a little scary to walk into the shadows, but that is where we will discover our strengths.
Sure… that’s another way of looking at it. The shadow pushes the edges of possibility for us and helps us push past our fears? Yes, there is strength there. I agree on that one too. 🙂 we need both to survive.
Thank you,
E
I just ran across that Kubler-Ross quote yesterday and loved it! Shadow and light, like Yin and Yang, neither one good or bad, just the balnce of the other. We couldn’t survive without both, nor could we appreciate the lessons from one without the other!
Well said… we need both to survive 🙂 just like the yin yang helps create the equilibrium we crave in this world. I need to come say hello to you on your blog shortly! Thank you.
E
Could it be the shadow makes the light brighter?
Yes! and complements it too. We need both for our survival; to challenge and push us. 😉
Brilliant! The darkness leads us back to the light. We know the darkness when we know the light.
This is deep work and I can see the course is bearing fruit.
Stay strong
B
Yes it is so… and vise versa too right? Thanks for the feedback and it has been a grueling week all around. On a mundane level, some might see it as good vs evil but I don’t think it is in that realm, it is beyond such clinical descriptions and a necessary part of us. 🙂
I suppose we must have the shadows, so that we can choose the light!
Yes we do; one begets the other… I believe it’s like in the art I see on your blog; the artists generally use one to highlight the qualities of the other… 🙂
I read somewhere that artists do their best work in the shadow because it’s at the deepest soul level. I can believe that especially when think of all the artists who were quite quite brilliant depressives. The shadow is not a bad thing really.
E
LOOOOOVE that quote up at the top! How very poignant.
Quite poignant, isn’t it? Have you read any Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ works? She is remarkable and wrote a lot on death and dying… Her work is provocative too. She is one of my favorite authors/thinkers.
Thank you! 🙂
Brilliant Post Eliz – thank you.
It is easy to be afraid of our shadow side…but without light, there would be no shadow…just darkness. Our challenge is to accept our shadow and embrace it fully.
Great quotes today…and I love the photo and the colours inside the mosque.
Juls 🙂
Thanks Julie,
Welcome back… The shadow is in us just as much as the light and sure, we can embrace it and still choose to push past it. I can appreciate my shadow side but not to live there. As I said in my post, “For the light is not the shadow; though both inside us dwell. I love the light. ” 😉
The mosque was not my original post picture as it only appeared in Zemanta after I had published my post. I loved it so much that I just had to change my original photo choice… Yes, I love those stained glass windows and the reflection of the shaded parts against the lits part of the mosque… are simply stunning.
I do love that photo. 🙂
E
Thanks !
E
I glanced through this post while at work yesterday. But had to come back to read it again.. Loved it and I hope people understand how to find the right thing to do in themselves instead of checking the rules or referring the holy book (any one of them 🙂
I think you gave me something to think about and post… thanks
Hi Sunil,
Welcome back… That work schedule must be brutal as we have missed your insightful posts.
True, our shadow/light are quite individualized, so I would imagine that anyone who does some introspection would find/know that place and know what the “right thing” to do would be.
We all go through the dark night of the soul, and we need to know the dark in-order to recognize and appreciate the light. This is a fundamental human experience regardless of our faith or beliefs. 🙂
I’m glad you loved it and will explore the subject some more on your blog… I look forward to reading your take and thoughts when you do. 🙂
Thank you!
E
Nice…
Thanks Arva,
Good to see you here after a short absence… Did you get my email? Would love to chat and catch up on new posts from you. 🙂
E
HEY NO DINT GET UR MAIL 😉 SEND ME AGN….
Okay and thanks for following up. I sent it to the gmail one?. 🙂
Hi, Eliz, thank you again for another very beautiful post [:-)] You’ve pulled together some of my favorite topics and poets, into a glowing snowball! Stay warm!