Looking at the shadows
The other day in the late morning I passed by a bike parked on the pavement, the shadow it cast was very dark and bold against the gray pavement. The shadow was more visually interesting than the bike wheel itself, and of course seemed a perfect metaphor to play with this week. The elongated shadow, round but not perfectly round, the spokes working in pairs to support the outer rim. Right now my attention is drawn to those pairs of spokes. The two working together, and joining with all the other spokes to create the whole. Two sides of the coin, the shadow and the light, the ying and yang. What are the duel attributes we need to keep balanced to be whole? Here are some pairs that came to my mind. Give+Receive, Lead+Follow, Wander+Root….. what else?
Please offer some pairs that come to your mind by Tuesday night and I will put them in this weeks art offering of the shadow of the wheel.
Jennifer
I am interested in the potential slip, or not, of the word “duel” in your post. Ostensibly, it should be “dual”–as in two sides, both sides, something occurring simultaneously. However, the word “duel” is so wonderful here as I think we often have a hard time accepting the two sides of things. We view them in opposition. I have been thinking a lot about, and explaining to Will a lot, about how we need the dark to see the light. So, “duel” and ” dual” are a beautiful reminder for me in thinking about the shadow.
lisathorpeartist
Well, well, well, Jennifer this was a completely inadvertent word play (perhaps a Freudian slip?) but a fortuitous one I think. Thanks for your insights… I agree we generally think of the light and the dark in conflict with each other, instead of seeing how the convergence of dark and light bring on the most wonderful qualities of dusk and dawn. A balancing point, neither one nor the other. A picture of standing in the middle of a teeter-totter comes to mind, leaning one way, repositioning, reacting, finding the middle way takes a lot of core muscles!
Gpa
Lisa, let me suggest that what I see is the Wheel of life. The spokes represent the stages of life. There is always a tension between the spokes which hold them in place. These tensions develop as we mature, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Notice that the spokes extend out from a hub. This hub is the family from which we all come and who’s love binds use together generation after generation as we move and replace one another as the wheel turns. Gpa
lisathorpeartist
Thank you for that lovely metaphor. I especially like the idea of the tension. I think that tension is essential for the stability of the wheel. There needs to be a balance of tension or the wheel gets out of alignment. I think that the tension in and of itself isn’t a negative… feeling the tug and strain as a reminder to change stance or direction to maintain balance…. more in Friday’s post.