Issue 5: Shadow
(Anniversary Issue Theme Brief)
Have you ever yearned for a getaway to a realm, time, or state of being freed from life's malevolence? Have you ever ached to venture to an illusive wonderland, where our deepest yearnings can come alive? There, we can envision the romance we were once desperate to have, the atmosphere of our home from years past, and the sights of our reaped glories. There, our arduous obligations and the painful truths we deliberately sweep under the rug are sheer folklore. There, all our burdens, dreary fears, or agonizing sentiments haunting us from unspeakable days long ago are nonexistent.
However, beyond the brittle veil curtaining our indefinite joys are lurking shadows. These forces, with faces of misery, will relentlessly entice us to run away aimlessly from what we have to face. The further we stray from what we need to confront, the more power we give to these phantoms. We weep, wrecked by the sight of our most coveted fantasies tearing apart, bringing us to the piercing frigidity of reality. Clinging to the remnants of an ideal state of being and time period mercilessly clamped by a slithering darkness looming from behind. Tearing up, as the ghosts of our callous past shatters pieces of the memories we treasure.
These alternate realms we fabricate - where real-world cruelties can never reach us - are mere superficial mirages in the mosaic of life. We might be desperate to see new beginnings, moving past the tempting tendencies to merely dwell in bittersweet nostalgia while the oddities of life surround us. To heal beyond the past we so long to bury behind us is a necessity, and only change and growth from within can carve the path forward. In the spirit of rebirth from the shadows haunting us, greet all the unfamiliar chapters ahead as long-lost companions with unrelenting, open arms, for we are the sole master of our future.
The darkest hours are always before dawn, the shadows and lurking phantoms aren’t as fearful as they seem. All that glitters isn’t gold, but your inner demons might bear lessons you’d never known. Mind Over Matter’s fifth and anniversary issue will commemorate and celebrate profoundly the growth we’ve embraced and explore how we experience, struggle with, or overcome the looming shadows of our past. Send us your articles, essays, photographs, artworks, illustrations, paintings, sculptures, or anything whimsical. All submissions should follow our guidelines as listed on our website, and must be sent to mindmattercollective@gmail.com from July 1 - August 8, 2021.
Keywords:shadow, fear, escapism, liberty, freedom, letting go, self-acceptance, cage, ego, whims, imagination, memories, getaways, reality, fantasy, growth, development, dreams, love, renew, journey
