Shadow Falls

"Shadow falls is the technique of finding the area of enlightenment in each story, not passing up opportunity because you find inconsistencies."

We are continuously exposed to stories. Origins stretch from a wide variety of areas such as culture, movies, series and many from religion. Most of the time we feel obligated to come to a single conclusion in regards to agreeing or disagreeing and in case of disagreement we tend to discard it all.

Poking holes into a story is easy, most things in life are flawed. If we look closely at even the most beautiful things we will start to notice imperfections. Shadow falls challenges us to go against our nature and look past these within each story and rather focus on the pockets of valuable truth. Taking a step back, firstly appreciating the opportunity to see and discover through someone else (a completely different being) and mentally pivoting around the information shared, to learn as much as the opportunity presents.

There is much to learn from seemingly insignificant facts, do not close yourself to experience life only through your eyes. Try to experience the story from the story teller’s perspective.

1. Try to find an angle or context where intent of the story (the intended learning) can resonate with your views. Sometimes it might just be an edge case far from the norm.
2. Search for different forks in the story, play in your mind different paths the story could have taken if different choices or incidents occurred. We can learn as much from what didn't happen as what did.
3. Learn to engage with the story teller (or audience). Pull them into a deeper conversation by playing the devil’s advocate, even if you are in agreement. This will aid your understanding as how people get to their conclusions can bring forward hidden depth into the topic at hand. Be mindful of your body language and learn to hide your emotions.

Only directly oppose (different to discussing opposite views) story teller if you have responsibility over people listening and you don't want them to be confused. If you have strong convictions and you know the other party is not open to another opinion do not force yours. If you have a strong conviction there is no need to prove it to others. In contradiction to your feelings if you are able to humour the situation you could potentially gain a deeper understanding when the opposition is not guarded or feeling cornered.