Introduction to Shadow Work
“We seek to present a beautiful, innocent face to the world; a kind, courteous demeanor; a youthful, intelligent image. And so, unknowingly but inevitably, we push away those qualities that do not fit that image, that do not enhance our self-esteem and make us stand proud but, instead, bring us shame and make us feel small.
We shove into the dark cavern of the unconscious those feelings that make us uneasy - hatred, rage, jealousy, greed, competition, lust, shame - and those behaviors that are deemed wrong by the culture - addiction, laziness, aggression, dependency - thereby creating what could be called shadow content. The qualities ultimately take on a life of their own, forming an invisible twin that lives just behind our life, or just beside it, but as distinct from the one we know as a stranger.
The stranger […] is us, yet is not us. Hidden from our awareness, the shadow is not a part of our conscious self-image. So it seems to appear abruptly, out of nowhere, in a range of behaviors from off-color jokes to devastating abuses. When it emerges, it feels like an unwanted visitor, leaving us ashamed, even mortified.
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