The Queen of Light and Shadow
When she was a little girl she used to be terrified of monsters. Sometimes the monsters were even in her own head and that was the worst of all because she couldn’t get away from them. But one day she finally decided that there was nothing really worse than living in fear of them all the time so she gathered her courage and faced them “ Open the door, let them in” she cried and to herself she said “I am daring, I am strong, I am courageous”. The monsters just started to dissolve and as they melted into transparency she could make out the faint shape of the wings of an angel or was it a butterfly? Perhaps both? She was left with this great feeling of exhilaration and power.
Then she had one of those “aha” moments that we all long for. She realized that without fear we would have no courage for courage is not what you do when you are NOT afraid. Courage is the place that you discover deep inside yourself when you are shaking in your boots, about to faint terrified and you decide to do something no matter what. That’s when you find the strength, the daring to go forward in spite of your fears. That is true courage.
Where would we be without courage? She realized that life is full of contrast and without one we cannot have the other. That the coexistence of opposites is what gives our world such amazing richness. It is what makes us whole and complete.
That day was when she decided that when she grew up she wanted to be the Queen of Light and Shadow. For without shadow we would have no light. She wanted to spend her life spreading this message that we need our fears to find our courage, we need our sadness to find our happiness, we need our lack to find our abundance, we need our light to find our shadow. Transformation is only possible when we embrace the coexistence of opposites. Open that door of possibilities, let those “monsters” in. They are the ones that will give you your ticket to your “journey to freedom”.
Regal, courageous, serene in her wisdom, I present to you, “The Queen of Light and Shadow” dressed in her bejewelled gown of brilliance, holding a space for every part of you, your darkness and your light.
Elizabeth Gibbons ©2009
