Your Shadow

In Psychology, a Shadow is cast by every mind. In that Shadow is deposited things that we repress, thoughts and emotions that we are unable, unwilling, or unready to understand. It is often a blind spot. Behind us. Cast by us but not always seen.

Of importance are the things that we deposit there that we are not ready to accept.

In fact that precisely is why they are deposited there, put away.

In most cases, most of the time, this adaptive mechanism that the mind has created is helpful. If you are not ready to deal with something you are not ready.

But sometimes a crossroad is reached where the luxury of depositing in the shadow is no longer a luxury we can afford. When seeing what is in there is necessary to maintain our health and sanity. To ensure our growth, our actualization, our healing. We are confronted with a choice, in this crossroad: to see and have clarity, or continue to bury and keep in the dark.

Often when you can no longer can bury, hide, deposit in the shadow (but still don’t want to face what is in there) we resort to projecting.

You project when there exists something that you don’t want to accept because accepting it would signify having to change how you perceive yourself, and you are not ready or willing to change your self-image.

You project your fears, your paranoia, your own unacknowledged tendencies.

Projections onto others, that in reality are clues to your own behaviors.

In our discipline we have to strive for clarity. And for that we must master shadow work. The ability to sit with what we have deposited in the shadow, what we repressed, and tried to project. This of course is difficult and challenging, and often requires a good support group of friends and colleagues to keep you grounded…but honest.

But once you have gone through the difficult emotions and cognitions connected with those shadows (remember you deposited them there for a reason), you can allow them to be integrated into your self image. Indeed this is often requited for you to grow, mature, and evolve. If you do so, what you will find, is a new version of yourself. One more suited, adapted, integrated, realistic, and equipped to handle and support the best healthiest version of yourself.