Here I find myself once again. Well, now that I'm here, what more could I possibly do? I follow the usual path, grabbing my pencil and starting to trace rough lines. I allow my mind to lead me as the pencil glides on the paper, just like every time. My thoughts start flowing into what I am creating… the rough shapes start to take life as I add darker strokes to create the shading, according to how the light might fall on them. Light and shadow - white and black. Opposite notions which might appear simple at first, but could reveal so much more. Monochrome. It seems to convey the beginning, the fundamentals of everything. The shapes start to resemble a person – a person in black and white.
What happens when the lines become blurry, when the two colours start to mix? What happens when we start seeing grey? Is there truly a situation in which we can tell them apart completely? Why do we have to see them as polar opposites, good and bad? We desperately try to tuck our shadow, our deepest fears and desires in the darkest corner of our soul. We insist on solely showcasing the light within us to the outside world, as if we are only made up of that part. Nonetheless, the shadow is part of us too. Insisting on disregarding it is like trying to detach ourselves from our own being. Why can’t we stop seeing the world through a dichotomous lens and simply be ourselves? It is no wonder that we often feel as if there are multiple, distinct personalities within ourselves, inhabiting the same body. These are the many personas that we continuously change when we project them to the outside world, according to our emotions and the various situations that we find ourselves in.
Why are we are hiding our "true form" from the world? In reality, there is only one us, we are one entity. As I draw the finishing touches, I finally understand it. With all its beauty and its flaws, with its multiple, complex dimensions, it exists. This is what we should aim for: having the courage to accept our real self and not being afraid to show it to the world just as it is - raw, monochrome.
Cristiana Chițu, 11th E
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