You can only place so many lamps in a room so the shadows can't gather. Eventually they find their way to the walls and the floors. And at night, they spill out over everything. And this is also true: we are free to keep living amidst their presence. We may not be able to pick them up in our hands and toss them out the window. but we can still paint the walls blue, green, yellow. We can make room for plants. We can still sit there nearby and read our books. The night will come and it will get harder to see, but mourning does come after. We find that we are not held back by their longness or silence.

I am learning to hold on to this truth for the lingering shadows of the unknown. I do not know where tomorrow will lead, but I do know that when I take time for reflecting, looking for the good and noticing beauty, I am making room to let love in. This is a small, yet real example of hope. Sometimes amidst the shadows, I have not let go. I have managed to find something meaningful in the uncertainty.

This matters in times like this, when you and I are faced with the reality of what does not make sense, and we are forced to sit in wait more than ever before. The longer we are in the stillness, the more the shadows will seem to spill into the light. And just like that, shades of hopelessness start to ease their way into everything.

I cannot tell you that the shadows won't cloud your mind, or you won't get a little weary from time to time. But I can tell you: there is still plenty of room for light to fill the room. Take heart, breathe deep. The unknowns in the season might be greater than you have ever thought they would be. But even the fact that you are taking time to listen to this very line shows that through it all. You are still enduring to find a sense of peace in your heavy mind. Exhale after exhale is still leaving your body. You are still living, miraculously learning to dance in the shadows.

Journal: Have you ever tried to make sense of the shadows?

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