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  • Writer's picturePaul Cotter

Shadow Thoughts



A shadow is there, but in another sense it isn’t there at all. It has a shape and a tonal intensity – yet it’s as formless as a thought. You can’t touch it, smell it, taste it, hear it. If the sun goes behind the cloud, it vanishes.


It’s visible … and it’s empty. It’s here … and it’s gone. It is … and it isn’t.


The mystic Sufi poet Rumi wrote, “Like a shadow, I am and I am not.”


There’s so much to learn from contemplating shadows.

10 Comments


dawnastromsoe
Apr 23, 2023

What an extraordinary world opens when one sees the world of shadows & light

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bonniedds
Apr 23, 2023

What you cannot physically touch is often that which has the greatest impact. Wonderful reflection on so many levels

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slig249
Apr 22, 2023

It is funny what our eyes can see, the truly, may not be there! Looking at this picture, I see so many things, and yet I wonder are they really there or is it just my mind . wonderful quote!

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Paul Cotter
Paul Cotter
Apr 22, 2023
Replying to

LOL. There it is! I saw that play of light, shadow and color on your living room wall while we were having morning coffee and I was blown away by it.

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Andrew Ilachinski
Andrew Ilachinski
Apr 22, 2023

Your image and musings reminded me of one of my favorite quotes (by one of my favorite physicists): "All is process. That is to say, there is ‘no thing’ in the universe. Things, objects, entities, are abstractions of what is relatively constant from a process of movement and transformation. They are like the shapes that children like to see in clouds." - David Bohm (1917-1992)

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Paul Cotter
Paul Cotter
Apr 22, 2023
Replying to

Thank you for sharing that quote, Andy. I love how he sums up a concept that can be difficult to grasp: "They are like the shapes that children like to see in clouds."

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therkgroup
Apr 22, 2023

The abstract shadows dance on my mind and seem to conjure a strange yet familiar shape of a music stand with the pages of a musical score flung open to be played for an unknown audience.

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Paul Cotter
Paul Cotter
Apr 22, 2023
Replying to

Thank you for your thoughtful reflection, Ron. I really enjoyed your interpretation of the image.

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