Shadow Study - Missoula, Montana

Similarly interesting shadow thoughts to ponder from two beloved authors (because I couldn't decide on just one!): 

"So don't be frightened, dear friend, if a sadness confronts you larger than any you have ever known, casting its shadow over all you do. You must think that something is happening within you, and remember that life has not forgotten you; it holds you in its hand and will not let you fall. Why would you want to exclude from your life any uneasiness, any pain, any depression, since you don't know what work they are accomplishing within you."

 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

"I am quite likely to re-act to the opposite extreme - to feel rapturously that the world is beautiful and mere existence something to thank God for. I suppose our 'blues' are the price we have to pay for our temperament. 'The gods don't allow us to be in their debt.' They give us sensitiveness to beauty in all its forms but the shadow of the gift goes with it."

 - L.M. Montgomery, My Dear Mr. M: Letters to G.B. Macmillan from L.M. Montgomery