Claudia posted such a relevant blog at the end of July that I want to share it here as well. Such wisdom….

“Monday, July 23, 2007

Life is full of Light and Shadows …..

Soulnurture.com has presented an interesting piece on Lights and Shadows. I thought it was worth sharing with you all:

Global Wisdom: The Shadow of Love and Passion..

A rather imprecise but valuable metaphor is: “There is a shadow for every light; and also a light for every shadow.” A shadow is just what it implies: something we take as the light but is only vaguely associated with it. The “shadow” of Love is attachment; and the shadow of Passion is infatuation/lust. Sorting these out and moving from the shadows of attachment and infatuation/lust into the Light of Love and Passion is difficult. Knowing that the shadows of attachment, infatuation/lust exist naturally with the light, and are to be compassionately moved away from, can greatly reduce the self condemnation and anguish a person feels they are discovered.

People mis-take attachment, in its hold on the psyche, as Love. The psyche (that part of our mind that is focused on surviving/thriving in life) looks for deep emotional needs to be met and pushes. A person seeks to fill this need by another person rather than from within themselves. When the need is being met, all is well within. Because of this, a person may say “I love you” to the person meeting their tender and vulnerable need. We all need interdependence (that place between total dependence and total independence), and that is not the issue here. Attachment is placing needs upon another that truly must be met from within and in God. When need is not met from within and in God, our capacity to truly love is crippled and relationships fall apart.

When infatuation/lust replace true Passion, relationships tend not to fall apart but to “explode.” Need for another person now becomes a hunger and an incessant desire. If the other person does not respond there can be terrible fixation and anguish. If the person responds in kind, there can be immense intensity to the relationship that brings “great highs” in energy and feeling. Unfortunately there comes the “great lows” and enormous depression and suffering if the other is the first to pull away. Such relationships often have a pre-conscious watchfulness — each person wants to be the one to pull away first to avoid the avalanche of suffering. Some people “jump” into such relationships and “jump” out as quickly leaving the other person swirling in confusion and lost-ness.”