Shadow Watching

We're told we're hiding in the shadow of others if we don't "achieve" as much as we could.

Also shadows are said to be where bad people lurk!

But shadows are the essence of something far more meaningful than a reflection of physical form. Shadows are the corners of our mind the light of reason rarely touches.

They offer a window into another world. The world of eternal darkness that all too many of us love to fear.

It was the Chinese Han dynasty that gave us shadow puppets. One of Emperor Wu of Han's concubines died and he was so stricken with grief that he ordered his servants to raise her from the dead, and so, with a lamp and a figure made of donkey leather, they brought her shadow back to life.

Things turn even more eerie when it comes to shadow people. These are dark figures that are said to inhabit our peripheral vision (accompanied by a feeling of terrible dread) only to vanish if you try to look at them directly.

But these metaphors of fear hide a much more relaxing and wonderful truth.

Those dark corners of the mind are not full of fear and woe, but are the first steps on the path of truth if we allow ourselves to find out more about them.

"Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides".
~~ Junichiro Tanizaki

"Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings - always darker, emptier and simpler".
~~ Friedrich Nietzsche


Holidaying in Broome, Western Australia in May 2007 we went on a camel ride along Cable Beach. The sun was setting and I took this photo while up on the camel.

Messages and Truths

After a while I lose track of where messages and truths come from. This quote "What you give out you get back" is a popular one I hear at many workshops and from many people.

You may know this universal truth as "Like attracts like" or "What goes round come around" or "All that I give, I give to myself". This statement, in its various forms is the one I have stubbed my toe on from time to time. It is the one I remind myself to absorb, so I can stay on course for inner peace.

If I want love in my life, love is what I must give, and not just to the object of my affection - to all people.

If I want others to be honest and trustworthy with me, I need to be scrupulously honest and trustworthy with everyone.

If I want support for my ideas, I need to support others in their dreams...encourage them to be the best they can be.

If I want people to be generous with their money, time and affection, I need to give generously in these areas myself.

I am learning to do none of these actions with the thought of return or reward. This would be an attempt at blackmailing my soul.

I think the Universe is not as picky as I am. It receives the messages that I am kind, caring, loving, happy, considerate and generous human being and decides I only want people like that in my life too.

I have noticed, over a period of time, as I practise this enthralling mastery of myself, that the people I once thought important could now seem shallow and petty. Others, who dwelt on the border of my life and seemed not to share my attitudes, slowly gained in credibility and interest to me.

One day I looked at my former colleagues and friends and realised either they had changed, or that I had. I found there were plenty of others walking my new path. I was not alone.

I have learnt to look critically at the things that annoy me in relationships, at work and at home. These are the issues I haven't learnt to deal with yet!

Celebrating a birthday at my house with my closest friends - November 2008