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About This Author
My name is Joy, and I love to write. Why poetry, here? Because poetry uplifts its writer, and if she is lucky enough, her readers, too. Around us, so many objects abound to write about. Once a poet starts with a smallest, most trivial object, he shall discover that his pen will spill out what is most delicate or most majestic hidden inside him. Since the classics sometimes dealt with lofty subjects with a lofty language, a person with poetry in his soul may incline to emulate that. That is understandable. Poetry does that to a person: it enlarges the soul and gives it wings. Yet, to really soar, a poet needs to take off from the ground. Kiya's gift. I love it!
Daily Cascade
Since my old blog "Everyday Canvas Open in new Window. became overfilled, here's a new one. This new blog item will continue answering prompts, the same as the old one.


Cool water cascading to low ground
To spread good will and hope all around.


image for blog


November 17, 2025 at 12:42pm
November 17, 2025 at 12:42pm
#1101801
Prompt: Light and Shadow
"Both light and shadow are the dance of Love."
Rumi
What does this quote say to you?


-----

If, offhand, I were to put this quote in one small sentence, I would say, "Life is resilient and we should be, too." Yet, this quote means so much more than that. It has to do with being human and, possibly because Rumi is usually thought of as being a mystic, it may also mean that God's love can show up in different ways, and not only in what seems pleasant to us, two-legged humans.

Mysticism aside, this quote, when taken literally, may mean that love is not a force that only dwells in brightness, ease, or joy. Love is large enough to hold everything: our triumphs and our failings, our moments of clarity and our times of confusion. From this point of view, light and shadow seem to be opposites and in tension, but they are not enemies. In fact, they are partners in a single dance. They move together, shaping each other, teaching each other.

Light represents the moments when life feels open and generous, when we feel connected, purposeful, and blessed. This is hope and clarity. On the other hand, shadow may point to our doubts, fears, losses, and imperfections. These do not disrupt the dance but they are also part it, to give it its rhythm.

With that I mean, love never abandons us in the dark. Rather, through the use of the shadow, it reveals the parts and dimensions in us and in our hearts that light alone cannot show. Pain awakens compassion. Uncertainty encourages humility. Brokenness makes room for change and adjustment. And so, this is the dance of love. We are not asked to choose the light and reject the shadow. We are asked to witness and honor this dance.

This dance, invites us to soften toward our own shadows and the shadows of others. When we see light and shadow both as the ways that love moves, then every joy or struggle is part of the same divine dance.




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