Do Not Try to Separate Shadow from Light

Thomas Cole - Shroon Mountain (1838)

The way of joy is a river that never runs dry.

Don't turn upstream, and go against the current.
You will not find the source (even though it is closer to you than even the urge to find it).

Instead, move with the current, as it flows on and on into new life. This river of joy runs through the lands of both light and shadow; it nourishes the soils of each, equally.

The way of beauty is a trail that winds alongside this river of joy. The trail snakes under waterfalls, stretches over chasms, and weaves through deep forests. It too, traverses the lands of light and shadow, its exquisite reflection permeates both landscapes.

Do not try to separate shadow from light, or light from shadow. 
Neither can exist apart from the other.

Instead, understand their desperate love, and the underlying oneness it hints at.

Serve that oneness, in tenderness and clarity; serve only that, in whatever names and forms it presents itself, and from within whatever circumstances it calls to you.

-- Richard Power

Richard Power's latest book, Humanifesto: A Guide to Primal Reality in an Era of Global Peril is available now in soft cover and Kindle versions, from Amazon and elsewhere.