Shadow

What was it that triggered such a strong response in you recently? Something that was a little too close to a vulnerable place, a place that you have kept hidden away in the shadows?

For some people this reaction may just disappear into a busy week and they pay it no more attention but for others it can be intrusive and debilitating.

Inquisitiveness can help next time it happens, rather than feeling bad or guilty or ashamed. Make a note on your phone about what happened and include some details. When the next strong reaction happens, make another note. Keep doing this for a period of time and the chances are you’ll be joining up the dots. You can become more aware of certain things, conditions or relationships.

Jung’s shadow lives in the unconscious. It is something about our self that we find unbearable, intolerable…and we deliberately keep it where we cannot see it, well away from the ideal version we hold of ourselves.

Curiosity is just the beginning. What are you going to do about it now? Are you able to? What is habit, what is belief? Is it holding you or those close to you back?