Coming Out of the Cave

Anniversaries can mean many things. Life, death, beginnings, endings. Mostly, they are times for reflection. Reflections are nothing more than inverted images of thoughts. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave he relates how the prisoners caged in the dark know not the truth because they live in the darkness of the cave. The allegory relates shadows, reflections and objects as the path to truth.

Chained in darkness, fear and hope interchangeably look the same in their shadow forms. The shapes are unclear. They may not be what we think they are. Hope can manifest as fear. Fear of the unknown. Sure, the outcomes we hope for come with change. We look forward to change many times yet approach it with trepidation. Chained to the walls of the cave, we cannot tell the difference between what we see as hope and what we see as fear. Our hopes look like fears to us because we cannot see them for what they are. A move, a baby, a job change, a marriage, a divorce. They all present positives and negatives. We know that they will be for the best in the end. We know that they should represent hope. However, the fear of the unknown, when we sit in darkness, seems to overwhelm the hope. The shapes we see we think are fear. We interpret them as such because we can only view the outlines. All we see is the negative projection against the flickering light.

As we step closer to the light, however, we can see the reflections. We see the inverted images of the objects. At this point, we can see our hopes are really our fears and vice versa. We can see the images, even if we cannot hold onto what we are seeing. No longer are the objects viewed as a negative projection on the wall or floor. We have the knowledge to see the images for what they are. We recognize the fear or hope. We begin to understand where one ends and the other begins. The outlines are given detail. Where we used to recognize only fear, we suddenly can see the hope. Where we thought all hope was lost, we can find it again regained. We live in a world where although we can see these differences, we cannot yet know them. We cannot yet fully grasp what they are. We cannot yet accept them. Recognition, however, is the beginning of the journey to acceptance. We begin to identify from where the fear originates. These identifications are the first step to overcoming the fears. Change is inevitable. Stasis, too, is inevitable in some respects. We can attempt change or have it forced upon us. Recognizing the fine lines between the hopes and fears these changes bring upon us is the first step to truly knowing ourselves. We can remain in stasis or have stasis forced upon us. Recognizing why we fear or hope for stasis also gives us insight into the decisions we make and the reasons for our feelings. We have entered awareness but have not moved on to being able to act.

Only when we release ourselves from the cave and run toward the light can we truly act nobly. In the light, we can grasp the objects, hold them, know them, and release them. We no longer stare at them or see them in a manner given to us by others. We suddenly have a true understanding of them. We can know our fears or know our hopes. We can hold on to them or let them go. We can finally not just see the details but feel the textures. The objects are no longer intangible. They are real. The fears we have held can be quantified. They can be overcome in this manner. The hopes can be harnessed. We can grasp them, cling to them, feel them, and empower ourselves with them. Only when we have been able to see them for what they are can we actually distinguish them from one another. They are no longer blended together. They are separate entities, each with their own consequences in our lives. Once in the light, we can finally separate them into their own categories. No longer are these hopes and fears two dimensional images being projected upon or in front of us. They are three dimensional objects that we can know for ourselves.

Perhaps we are never able to leave the cave forever. Perhaps we may trapped in some home base within the cave. However, hopefully in another year, the anniversary being celebrated will be one of hope, not fear. Perhaps it will be a year in which the cave will become a distant memory. If not, the least for which I can hope is to know that the images are no longer shadow or reflections but objects within my reach. This year marks the anniversary of the removal of the chains. Emergence from the cave will be the anniversary next year.