Gracious Light and Shadow

Awaiting an expected phone call on a recent afternoon, I lay back on the bed in my Study and was struck by this color-and-shadow pattern on the ceiling:

I've tried to understand the dynamics of this complex pattern. Here's what I think.

On the left, the main source of light is my Study window, transmitting relatively cool, blueish daylight.

On the right, the main source of light is a lamp on my desk, with a warmish bulb and a yellowish lampshade, resulting in an orangish hue.

On the vertical walls in the photo we can see the basic blue and orange.

Each of the light sources was casting a shadow of the fan onto the ceiling. A shadow is a darkening, and darkening intensifies color that is otherwise pale. Thus the shadows appeared bluer and oranger than their unshadowed backgrounds.

Orange light from the desk lamp was being blocked by the fan blades, and the resulting shadow was therefore a darkening of predominantly ambient blue light. Thus the darkened shadow looked blue.

Similarly, the blue light transmitted by the window was being blocked by the fan blades, and the resulting shadow was a darkening of predominantly ambient orange light. Thus the darkened shadow looked orange.

At three locations the blue and orange shadows crossed paths. These crossings are brown—the simple combination of blue + orange.

In my blog posting of April 6, I quoted Hans Küng: "This is grace: new chances in life." The color-and-shadow dynamics on my ceiling have been for me a form of grace: new delight in life.

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