Throughout my life I could not help noticing that I never relate to praising of the sun, or how someone misses it, or enjoys it. When things are exposed to direct sunlight and all details are sharp and clear, it often feels to me aggressive and one-sided. Like a strong statement or opinion that is pronounced without a shade of doubt, it leaves an impression that something is not right here, or something is lacking. As though trying to put more light on things somehow breaks a mysterious superposition, where many things are possible at the same time. When light is scarce, shadows, nuances and new symbolism of things start to appear.
One good Russian philosopher, Berdyaev, has an interesting passage on our relation to sunlight. He says sun is a symbol of our separation from our initial (or potential) state of being, where we are ourselves the source of light. And this is why, he says, white nights in the North are so powerful and often offer this mystical experience – because everything is illuminated without the visible source of light and that reminds us, or gives a glimpse into the state when light is emanating from each thing, from the inside.
Observing shadows and silhouettes in twilight or deep fog can also be a mystical experience, where objects appear unfinished, constantly changing shape and their symbolism. Somehow the lack of light creates this playful uncertainty that is so reconciling and peaceful. Last time I experienced it in Venice where suddenly I found myself on the Murano island, in a part of the island that was completely desert and the fog was so deep that only silhouettes of buildings, of little bridges were emerging out of the white nothingness. You could only meet with your own self walking uncertainly in such a place.
The world of shadows has this soothing and reconciling effect, because it also has a symbolism that reminds us of a different state of being. It reminds us that we live in the world of illusions. We are the Plato’s cave men, prisoners who only see shadows of real things. Our world is covered by the veils of Maya where things are not what they seem. But why it is soothing and reconciling, one may ask. We have been always trying to find a way out of this prison, trying to lift the veil, unplug and wake up, as explored in many myths.
Living in the world of shadows can be a beautiful and reconciling experience because we just know that we cannot take anything too literally or seriously, or personally, that there is always more to things that it seems. It all comes to how we engage with this world and from this perspective anything can be art. When we engage with life creatively and shift our perceptions, that other state of being can indeed become our reality. We do not even need to wake up, it is all already here.
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