Where does the light come from?
In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, prisoners live chained inside a cave so that all they can see is the inner wall of the cave. Behind them a fire burns and between them and the light travel people, animals and the things that they carry. All that the prisoners see are the shadows cast upon the wall by the blocked light of the flame and they name the shadows, attesting the echoes of the sounds behind them to the shadows themselves. The shadows become their reality and they could not possibly fathom the true nature of what they see that lies just behind them. If they saw it, they might not even believe it.
This philosophical metaphor symbolizes much about our human nature of perception and the superficiality of physical reality, the illusions we believe in that are mere shadows of the truth that gives shape to what we see. Though this parable is often used to illustrate human ignorance, it is also an opportunity to recognize the artists that move in front of the flames.
Yes, there will always be those who choose to live in chains. Many people live at the bottom of the cave and even given the chance of escape, don't take it - or having escaped, return to it. But some were born into the world in front of the light and some brazenly dare to depart the cave to never return. These are the artists, the creatives who work with the light to shine stories onto the dark canvas of the deep and pray to tell a story that invite the prisoners to ask questions that seek beyond their shackles. These are the ones who echo their sounds into the souls of the living dead.
At The Den in Medford Oregon, you can see it all. This is not a place of perfection and it's not a monument hall for the superhuman. The Den is a place of revival and redemption where Austin and Annie Stack keep the flames blazing hot and high and they teach common people to be dancers, doers and storytellers. They teach using language of health and fitness, of community and camaraderie, and they gather a family around them by pure virtue of the warmth and truth of the light they protect.
Eventually, when the light burns hot and bright enough, and when the music echoes loud enough and when the shadows cast a story just the right way, the prisoners will have to ask:
Where does the light come from?
Point One Vision is honored to find its birth place and home around the flame that burns at The Den in Medford, Oregon. This has been a dance long in waiting for the right place and right time and right people to join it
