WHAT does a black and white world mean to you? Perhaps a world without colour where everything looks as if it’s from a 1950s sitcom, or maybe it’s the world written in a black and white newspaper; or how about the world being a scale, constantly battling for a balance of good and bad energies? For me, it’s the latter and it can be simplified to the term, “Yin-Yang.”
Yes, I’m sure you’re aware of what it is because of its famous black and white symbol. Perhaps, it is a bit too famous because its meaning gets lost in translation sometimes. It is more than a ‘cool’ tattoo design or wallpaper for your smartphone.

It can be put into many metaphors but the one we mostly use is, ‘there is good in bad and there is bad in good’. In the symbol itself, there are two sides; Yin and Yang. The yin is dark/black side while the yang is the white/light side. Taijitu, which is just another word for ‘Yin-Yang’ seeks to explain that in life, there must be balance. Opposite sides cannot exist without each other and within one specific side, there is a bit of the other. Good cannot exist without bad, heat cannot exist without cold, dirty cannot exist without clean, the North Pole cannot exist without the South Pole, and so on.

Our mindset is always based on removing all that is dark and evil, but do we ever stop to wonder that sometimes we may need it? Not to go off track, but the famous Karl Marx developed his conflict theory on one of the fundamental assumptions that societal conflict is what drives social change and development. Or, how about a famous scientific phrase, “for every action there’s an opposite reaction”—Newton’s third law. See, this can all be looked at differently based on what you perceive good and bad to be. Protesting is bad in the eyes of some but, would many of our successful legislations have existed without them? Would there be a number line with only even numbers? Don’t we need the odd ones too?

For purposes of practicality, I truly believe it is all based on perception. Fire destroys homes and forests, it burns us if we get too close but it also helps us to cook delicious food and it keeps us warm when the place is cold. Nothing is truly evil nor is it truly good. In fact, there is no good reaction or bad reaction, it’s how they interacts that matters the most.
When we think of social issues, we can also pinpoint Yin and Yang. Perhaps, “world peace” cannot exist without “world-war”. I’d like for you to think of ways that this symbol relates to you and your life, how you can use it to help see your perception of what is good and what is bad in an entirely new way.

Sometimes, I think that the best love stories are those where ‘Yin-Yang’ is noticeable. I am sure if by chance, Yin and Yang were ever real people, they’d probably mention something like this to each other, “I am in you and you are in me. There can be peace on earth, there can be a balance between opposing sides and we can all live in harmony. There is good, there is bad, there is good in bad and there is bad in good and then there’s the balance. That very balance is what gives us life”.