Sunshine and Shadows

Like the quilt pattern—Sunshine and Shadows—
life is pieced together in contrasts.
Light and dark.
Warmth and weight.
Joy set beside sorrow.
Each square, on its own, seems simple enough—
but it is the placing that gives it meaning.
Sunlight spills across the quilt,
catching the bright pieces,
while the darker ones deepen the shadows—
giving shape to what would otherwise be flat.

A cat finds the warmth and sits,
untroubled by the design beneath her.
She does not separate light from shadow—
she rests in the whole of it.

Perhaps that is what we are meant to learn.
Not to chase only the sunshine,
nor to fear the shadows—
but to understand that both
are stitched into the pattern.
Without one, the other cannot be seen.
And together—
they make something whole.