It takes getting to know someone and building trust with them before they will open a door and let you in. The same is true for the shadows. You can’t just walk around the world and expect shadows to reveal itself secrets to you unless you are willing to be present, do the work, and build trust. It is easy to think that shadows are all about seeing with your eyes, but the real trust and opporunity exist when you hear a shadow open a door.
I have walked down that alley probably 200+ times before the passage way revealed itself to me. The first fifty times I walked down that alley I was wearing my headphones, but then I stopped putting them on. I had noticed that the alley changed during different times of the day and not wearing my sunglasses had helped me see the nuance and detail of the alley. I wanted to see if there was more to be heard and little did I know there would be more to be seen if I was listening.
I took me another 200 trips down that alley and truly seeing and listening to what was happening. Eventually I was able to hear not jus the noises of the HVAC, razor wire, fences, and other physical details, but eventually I began to hear the space in between, and feel the shadows given to us by the morning and afternoon sun. Eventually, I heard it. I heard the shadow slowly sliding across the sidewalk, and then slowly opening a door.
Where this door would lead is a story for another time. This story is to just let you know what you are missing when you move through the world with those headphones on. You think you are seeing everything, but you aren’t. You have walked past hundreds of doors without noticing them, and they barely notice you. You aren’t seeing because you aren’t hearing. The world only reveals itself to those who walk and will do the work to see and listen.
