Since I am often the one taking photos, I am not in them, so I started taking photos of my shadows as proof of life—never mind that a photo could be proof enough.

I also think of shadows representing how we will always remain with the people with whom we have connected with on this earth. They remind me of Earthseed by Octavia E. Butler:

“All that you touch you change. All that you change, changes you. The only lasting truth is change. G-d is change.”

Shadows also feel like time travel to me, portals to different times in my life. Like I know I’ve been here, on this earth, in this life, all of this time but I can’t actually recall— call it real. It’s like a dream or shadow.