What Shadow?

 

                

Carl Jung (26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss Psychiatrist, the founder of analytical psychology and arguably the first modern psychiatrist. In Jungian Psychology, the shadow or "shadow aspect" is a part of the unconscious mind consisting of repressed weaknesses, shortcomings, and instincts."Everyone carries a shadow," Jung wrote, "and the less it is embodied in the individuals conscious life, the blacker and denser it is." (paraphrased from Wiki)

This painting is called "Carl Jung's nightmare" and is a representation of a person confronting his/her shadow.

Have you ever dreamt that you did something that you would never do while awake? Have you ever daydreamed that you would tell that person who puts you down exactly what you think of him/her? Have you ever lied, exaggerated the truth, lost your temper, slammed a door in someones face, walked out on a conversation, defended an action you feel bad about, etc.etc? Say hello to the Shadow.

Although one likes to believe that one is decent, respectful and basically a "good" person, Jung suggests that we all have a shadow and that the more we pretend otherwise, the darker it becomes. So how do we confront or even identify the shadow? Is it not OK to get angry, speak up or embroider the truth at times? I'm reminded of something I read: you know a tree by its fruit, an apple tree does not have oranges.

What happens to our perception of ourselves if we lie, behave aggressively, cheat, insult, belittle, and deceive? Most of us feel bad and so often we become tempted to rationalise our behaviour and find ways to ignore that inner voice pricking our conscience, reminding us that maybe we behaved "badly". "Yeah, but......, if X wouldn't have, then......., I was provoked, he/she started it, if nobody knows, who does it hurt?....etc.etc. we tell ourselves because there are endless ways in which we can make an "apple into an orange".
Is it possible to get to know the shadow, and if so, how does one do it? Perhaps one possibility may be to acknowledge those thoughts and feelings one usually suppresses, not in order to act upon them rather just to observe.
"Wow, what I just said was mean, why did I say that? Boy, I really lost my temper! where did all that anger come from? I should have told the truth, why did I say nothing?" as but a few examples. Could we assume that the more conscious we are of our shortcomings, weaknesses, the "lighter" the shadow becomes?

Which leads me to the next hurdle, why is it so hard to see our own shortcomings but oh so easy to see others? Let's leave others for the time being and just focus on ourselves, on how we can deal with our own shadow. Like Michael Jackson sang: "I'm starting with the man in the mirror........" Could it be as easy as to question our responses, to query if our behaviour is in line with our conscience? (This is a very complex issue, so evidently it's not easy....lol)
If our conscience tells us we wouldn't like someone to say, do, behave in a certain way toward us, chances are others wouldn't like it either. If our "bad" self misbehaves maybe we can ask our "good" selves to deal with it, to illuminate the shadowy recesses of our subconscious.

(PS. When I painted the painting I did not have all this going on in my head, or did I? Only the Shadow knows.......)