Pattern Of Light And Shadow

For an image to have any kind of depth or texture, there has to be both light and dark parts, gleams and shadows. If there are no shadows it just looks flat, dull, two dimensional. There has to be that contrast or there is no substance. The original name for the camera was the camera obscura, or dark chamber. A photograph is possible because paper treated with certain chemicals is kept in complete darkness, and then, when it is exposed to light, a pattern of light and shadow is captured on that paper. If the paper were exposed to pure light, the entire paper would be a washed out blur of overwhelming light and you would not be able to see anything. If it were exposed to pure darkness, none of the light sensitive chemicals would activate and there would be no picture. But if exposed to both light and darkness, then a clear picture forms. The darkness, the evil, the pain, the bitter experiences of life give depth and texture and meaning, just as much as the light, the goodness and the sweet experiences also give depth and texture and meaning. We need both together or we won't be able to make sense of one or the other. We always imagine the perfect day, the perfect vacation, the perfect family, the perfect life as one free of darkness or sadness or irritation. The lights are always green and we never stub our toes and we always understand and respond to one another in the exact right way. But such a life would be flat and uninteresting, devoid of depth or texture or richness. Darkness and pain, sickness and sadness are half of what makes life so great. Evil tends to bring with it darkness and pain and the rest, but these things in and of themselves are not evil. When you go to the movies, a projector shines light onto a white or silver screen. What this means is that whenever you think you see something that is black, it is actually white or silver but because of the contrast of light and shadow in the image, our brain thinks it's black. The shadows of life may be inevitable but they need not cause us to despair or worry that our lives are ruined or broken because they aren't blazingly sunny and free from shadows all the time. The shadows give depth to the light and light and darkness together weave a far richer tapestry than could ever be achieved if one or the other were missing.