There’s something to be said for the power of a shadow. Everything has one, they’re as common as the nitrogen in the air, the pianos in a Christian household. It’s the connotation of a shadow that really defines it though. Throughout elementary school, we were taught of a groundhog that let fear its shadow alter the atmosphere and change the seasons. I think the story is more one of fear than tradition.
We all have something to hide. Sometimes it’s little things like stains on a white blouse, but sometimes it’s more than that you know? The ugliest most arrogant parts of ourselves that we cover in layers of soft smiles and kind actions so people have no reason to dig around our psyche. I think I hide too much sometimes. Buried like a groundhog using its shadow as an excuse to stay in hibernation for another six weeks.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with hiding. It’s empowering as I sit on the other side of a screen, writing things I fear even admitting to myself sometimes. I think it’s good to put on a front. We’re all dice in a game of Monopoly, and wouldn’t we all like to land on free parking?
Sometimes there are parts of us that no one needs to see. The parts of us that sing at the top of our lungs as we dance around our kitchens, or the parts of us that ugly cry at movies we forget in a couple of hours. We are entitled to a part of ourselves. We shouldn’t be ashamed of keeping pieces of ourselves for ourselves.
Social media gets a lot of flack for giving anyone the ability to say things with minimal repercussions. Cyberbullying and fake news running rampant through the wafer of our microchips. But I think that’s some bad press. There’s no comfort that outways the keyboard at the tips of my fingers. It’s my soft place to land when the world becomes too much.
I don’t know if this is all unhealthy. If I had a therapist, would they tell me this is a good way to cope? I hate psychology, it’s easier to be aloof and not worry too much about what it means in the grand scheme. Blue being my favorite color doesn’t make me sad, and living in my own shadow doesn’t mean I’m afraid of the sun. It just is, plain and simple. No regard to the scientific point of view, or what your boss thinks of you. Just stand in your own light and embrace the way it blinds you.
