What is Shadow Work? What Is Revealed, Is What Heals

Written By: Michele Borowske First, for clarity let me borrow the excerpt below to explain what the going definition of shadow work is. This will give the reader more understanding of my blog. “Shadow work and the shadow self aren’t as scary as they appear. They provide a great deal of enlightenment when it comes to how we identify and regulate our emotions and how we perceive ourselves and the world around us. “Shadow work” and the “shadow self” are terms derived by the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. The idea of shadow work is that we all have parts of ourselves that we’ve repressed or largely ignored. Those long-forgotten aspects of our personalities, the parts of our identity that we’ve come to reject, make up our shadow self.” ~ The proceeding excerpt was selected from: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/shadow-work Alright, now that we have the technical jargon out in the open… Most people will spend their lives running from their shadow side. As we know, running from something does not change the fact that it exists. Think of your shadow aspects, as objects that were quickly tucked into a trunk. At the moment, you didn’t want to deal with the mess, so you hid it, tucked the trunk away in the attic and then forgot about it. It wasn’t until you went looking for something else, that you again went into the trunk that’s been buried for years, under layers of dust. You were searching for the object desired and now have come across that long-forgotten item, which you weren’t looking for. It is now exposed, bringing back with it memories, emotions and the inevitable question, “How did this end up here?” The one item you wanted, you went looking for it, brought you to the other object you had no intention of addressing. Many are tempted to bury it again, back into the trunk, rather than bringing it out into the light of day. What if I told you the two objects are energetically connected? Below is a sampling of what shadow work brought out in me. I share this, so that you know, as you do this work, that it is not unusual to have this kind of mental dialog going on. It is a https://naturheilpraxis-hauri.ch/ testimony to what can happen when we bring our forgotten things out into the light. My cup runneth over. It’s a good phrase to start 2024. Every blog, tarot reading, astrological prediction, and online seminar is asking for a change this year. It sounds just like previous years, starting New Year resolutions which are usually scrapped by February. However, due to the lockdowns and economic turndowns of these last few years, it seems to have taken on a more significant meaning. Yes, this is the year of taking risks. A new me! Many times before I turned the key and the ignition only clicked but this year is going to be different. I finally found out what was inhibiting my progress in previous years. It was me, the shadow aspects anyway.

 I thought my hard work would spill over into my life and to others. I was feeling spiritually ready. Yeah… well… I looked into my cup and realized I had forgotten to wash it out. Ewww. The top was good intentions but beneath was a thick layer of pond scum and decaying stuff I haven’t let go of.  Those intentions were just that. Intentions. They never went further than the emotions of ” I’m so ready to do better.”

I was my own worst cheerleader. I was holding on to the potential revenge I might seek on the bullies and narcissists in my life. The shoulda, woulda, couldas I missed. The If only I had saved all that money over the years I wouldn’t be in this predicament. If I had turned right instead of left. Why am I still a pushover? Why was I attracting losers? And the list goes on. My awesome skill set was beating myself up.  I learned from the best over the years. But now I had to step back and ask who was writing my story. My past? My fear of never being good enough? Feeling like I fell short too many times to be redeemed? I had to be very careful of staying in this shadow work, for if I stayed too long, the light started to look scary. I have to start looking at myself as a project that needs constant tweaking. If something doesn’t work try a different tactic. It’s an ever-learning cycle of being a better 2.0 version of myself.  Instead of over-analyzing, where I fall short. I turn to ask myself, what can I do to change the outcome? A toddler doesn’t quit trying to walk after falling down lots of times. They may cry and complain a lot (been there, working on it). But I persevere. Even while complaining. So my start to a new me is to wash the cup. Yeah, it’s gross. But it’s a beginning. One baby step at a time. Then maybe I will tackle the sink full of dirty dishes. I might even find a new me at the bottom.