The light, the dark, and the paths we make
In the Allegory of the Cave, people have been raised in a cave their entire life. With darkness all around them, the only light that they know is from a fire that they cannot see. The purpose of the fire, however, is not to create light, but rather to create shadows, the only world that these people have ever known.
Some people are taken out of the cave at some point in their lives and are blinded by the dazzling sunlight. Like newborn puppies, their eyes are too sensitive to the light, having known darkness al their lives. Slowly, they begin to adapt to the brilliance around them. Seeing shadows first and reflections off of water, their eyes start off simple in attempt decipher the strange, colorful world around them. Then seeing by moon or starlight, and later seeing objects illuminated by the sun, they begin to truly adapt. After some time, they can see the source of the light- the sun. However, this, too is temporary, because even if you weren’t in the cave, too much light can be just as blinding as darkness.
In one of our writing prompts, I related this to my weekend. I did good, donated toys to kids in need. I did good as a choice, no rewards, no one watching. I just did good to do good. It was as if my faith in humanity was slowly being restored as I was slowly exposed to the light. Then my weekend took a turn for the worse. I went to my sister’s basketball game and was absolutely horrified. The coach for the other team was verbally abusing his players (twelve-year-old girls!) and at one point even went so far as to point at one of his girls and tell her “you're a failure.” My sister began crying because she was so disturbed by the way that this coach was yelling at his players at halftime. It was painful to watch, seeing someone who was so, well, evil.
This, I think, is how the Allegory of the Cave works in my life. Every day in small ways, I am taken in and out of the cave. I see good and bad constantly. It’s hard to adapt to the bad things when I was expecting good, but the bad things make the good so much more noticeable, too. I think that many people in this world know goodness and try to show this in their lives, however, others (like the Chaska coach) are stuck in that cave, ignorant, their lives nothing but darkness and shadows.
Shadows. This is the part that really got me thinking. In general, when you think of shadows, light is not going to be the first thing that comes to mind. Darkness is what we think of first. However, shadows would not exist without light. Light is just light and will continue being light until something stops or blocks it. Well, if light is the good and dark is the bad that we see in life, then what are shadows? What stops pure, true goodness and turns it evil?
Humans. That's what I think. In our lives, we are constantly exposed to goodness. Whether you find it through religion, friends, family, passion, or other things, these are all things that we are with and around on a daily basis. However, again, pure, true goodness can't be replicated by something so flawed as a human being. No matter how hard we try, we can never be as “good” as goodness itself. And so we leave shadows. Everywhere we go, everything we do, everyone we meet is affected by the trail of destruction we leave behind us. In our lives, we cannot be good. There are just too many circumstances, too many outside factors, too many emotions. But in small moments in our small lives, I think there are moments when we are simply good.
Think of it this way. The age of the universe and the future of the universe is absolutely massive compared to our lives. An entire human life is like a day in the life of the universe. I think that this is really helpful for the analogy that I am trying to make. Our lives are like a day on earth in relation to the sun, or goodness. As the sun makes its way across the horizon, at different points, our shadows are different lengths. Maybe at dawn, when your shadow is the longest, is when you are a child. Selfish, needy, dependent, callous, and with no filter whatsoever, you tend to inflict a lot of harm on those around you.
Some people in our lives are stuck here. The center of the universe is themselves. They don’t see much sun, and their shadows are long. If you don't see much goodness because of ignorance or self-absorption, then it's hard to be good. Then there are other times in our lives, what I would say to be noon. This can be something different for everyone. Self-realization, achieving goals, retirement, finding God, whatever it may be for you. If you are under the sun, your shadow is gone. If you submerse yourself in goodness, then, for a moment, you are good.
This is hard, and it is momentary. We can't always be good. There are just too many things going on in life to always be good. But maybe if we turned around a little more, things could be different. If we turned back to see what kind of a wake we’re leaving in our shadows, maybe we could pull those we hurt back into the light. Maybe we could be less afraid of shadows at night, seeing our own guilt hiding in the corners of our souls. Maybe we could forgive a little more, love a little more, live a little more.
Some people are taken out of the cave at some point in their lives and are blinded by the dazzling sunlight. Like newborn puppies, their eyes are too sensitive to the light, having known darkness al their lives. Slowly, they begin to adapt to the brilliance around them. Seeing shadows first and reflections off of water, their eyes start off simple in attempt decipher the strange, colorful world around them. Then seeing by moon or starlight, and later seeing objects illuminated by the sun, they begin to truly adapt. After some time, they can see the source of the light- the sun. However, this, too is temporary, because even if you weren’t in the cave, too much light can be just as blinding as darkness.
In one of our writing prompts, I related this to my weekend. I did good, donated toys to kids in need. I did good as a choice, no rewards, no one watching. I just did good to do good. It was as if my faith in humanity was slowly being restored as I was slowly exposed to the light. Then my weekend took a turn for the worse. I went to my sister’s basketball game and was absolutely horrified. The coach for the other team was verbally abusing his players (twelve-year-old girls!) and at one point even went so far as to point at one of his girls and tell her “you're a failure.” My sister began crying because she was so disturbed by the way that this coach was yelling at his players at halftime. It was painful to watch, seeing someone who was so, well, evil.
This, I think, is how the Allegory of the Cave works in my life. Every day in small ways, I am taken in and out of the cave. I see good and bad constantly. It’s hard to adapt to the bad things when I was expecting good, but the bad things make the good so much more noticeable, too. I think that many people in this world know goodness and try to show this in their lives, however, others (like the Chaska coach) are stuck in that cave, ignorant, their lives nothing but darkness and shadows.
Shadows. This is the part that really got me thinking. In general, when you think of shadows, light is not going to be the first thing that comes to mind. Darkness is what we think of first. However, shadows would not exist without light. Light is just light and will continue being light until something stops or blocks it. Well, if light is the good and dark is the bad that we see in life, then what are shadows? What stops pure, true goodness and turns it evil?
Humans. That's what I think. In our lives, we are constantly exposed to goodness. Whether you find it through religion, friends, family, passion, or other things, these are all things that we are with and around on a daily basis. However, again, pure, true goodness can't be replicated by something so flawed as a human being. No matter how hard we try, we can never be as “good” as goodness itself. And so we leave shadows. Everywhere we go, everything we do, everyone we meet is affected by the trail of destruction we leave behind us. In our lives, we cannot be good. There are just too many circumstances, too many outside factors, too many emotions. But in small moments in our small lives, I think there are moments when we are simply good.
Think of it this way. The age of the universe and the future of the universe is absolutely massive compared to our lives. An entire human life is like a day in the life of the universe. I think that this is really helpful for the analogy that I am trying to make. Our lives are like a day on earth in relation to the sun, or goodness. As the sun makes its way across the horizon, at different points, our shadows are different lengths. Maybe at dawn, when your shadow is the longest, is when you are a child. Selfish, needy, dependent, callous, and with no filter whatsoever, you tend to inflict a lot of harm on those around you.
Some people in our lives are stuck here. The center of the universe is themselves. They don’t see much sun, and their shadows are long. If you don't see much goodness because of ignorance or self-absorption, then it's hard to be good. Then there are other times in our lives, what I would say to be noon. This can be something different for everyone. Self-realization, achieving goals, retirement, finding God, whatever it may be for you. If you are under the sun, your shadow is gone. If you submerse yourself in goodness, then, for a moment, you are good.
This is hard, and it is momentary. We can't always be good. There are just too many things going on in life to always be good. But maybe if we turned around a little more, things could be different. If we turned back to see what kind of a wake we’re leaving in our shadows, maybe we could pull those we hurt back into the light. Maybe we could be less afraid of shadows at night, seeing our own guilt hiding in the corners of our souls. Maybe we could forgive a little more, love a little more, live a little more.
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