Find Liberation With Shadow Work: Embrace Authenticity and Growth
Find Liberation With Shadow Work: Embrace Authenticity and Growth
With Self-Discovery Journaling. There is no light without dark.
I’m Kate, a psychotherapist writing about mental health and self-discovery, for you to flourish in a life you love. When we cultivate compassion, resilience and understanding, we also create a more harmonious world. Upgrade to a paid subscription here, for transformative journaling prompts, empowering tools, workbooks, and guided meditations and visualisations, and if you would like to support my work. Thanks for being here!
Hi friends,
Today marks the Eve of All Hallows (Samhain in the Celtic Calendar), which I expect hasn’t escaped your notice! Although it has been hijacked by plastic orange and Haribo, this time and tradition has long been woven into the calendar as a season of reflection. Traditionally, we would now honour the departed in vigil. Then, tomorrow, we remember all those pure-hearted saints, on All Saints' Day. We extend our honouring to all our faithful departed on All Souls’ Day the day after.
All Hallows’ Eve invites us to acknowledge the mystery of the unseen. We honour our ancestors while deepening our roots, and remember all those who have passed, all those who left an imprint on our souls. We may dare to embrace the shadowy, unknown aspects of ourselves and our lives, liberating our psyche of the burden of hiding them, paving the way for our growth. The bravest amongst us will acknowledge our mortality today.
All Saints’ Day celebrates purity, connection, and the goodness in humanity, a reminder of the virtues we aspire to. It is easy to embrace the saintly side of us, but what about the rest?
Now is the time to acknowledge what in ourselves and our lives we wish to let go, or to carry forward. We can release old burdens, celebrate our growth, and find renewal by embracing the mystery and continuity of life. Now is the time to remember, to renew, reconnect and to transform. Together, these days teach us to embrace life’s full spectrum, recognising both light and darkness within and around us. As Sirius Black said to Harry Potter,
‘We all have light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on...that's who we really are.‘ JK Rowling
The operative word here is choose. If we aren’t aware of it, we can’t really choose it. Read on, to unravel all this hocus pocus.
The Problem of a Disowned Shadow Side
Carl Jung described the "shadow" as the unconscious part of our personality that contains repressed weaknesses, desires, and instincts. All those impulses and traits we deny, to keep our shiny, squeaky clean self image. But this limits our growth and self understanding.
We avoid these parts because they often bring up painful emotions, fear, or shame. We become defensive, over-judgmental of others, and repeat patterns we wish to escape.
By acknowledging our hidden shadow side we reach psychological wholeness as we embrace the complexities of our nature, and release our own buried hallows into the ether. We can confront our fears, and get closer to the truth of ourselves. You can do this today, read on!
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” — Carl Jung
The Benefits of Owning Your Shadow Side
1. Increase self-awareness: as shadow work helps us see all parts of ourselves clearly and fosters a deeper understanding of the truth of who we are.
2. Bring emotional freedom: as we acknowledge our suppressed feelings and free ourselves from emotional blocks and limiting patterns, that can reduce, anger and shame.
3. Improve relationships: as knowing and accepting our shadow side makes us less reactive, less defensive, reducing conflict and enhancing authentic connection with others as we respond more openly.
4. Fosters personal growth: as facing uncomfortable truths allows us to learn from every part of ourselves, even the difficult ones.
5. Increases authenticity: as shadow work helps us live more fully, no longer hiding or suppressing parts of who we are.
6. Increases compassion: as accepting our own flaws makes us more understanding toward others.
7. Improve emotional resilience and confidence: as integrating our shadow strengthens us, making us better equipped to handle life’s challenges.
8. Bring inner peace: as embracing all aspects of ourselves leads to greater harmony and self-acceptance.
Those of us who own our shadow side have greater authenticity, compassion and resilience than those who bury it. If this is something you’d like to do, put your cauldron down and grab a pen for some self-discovery therapeutic journaling. If you aren’t already a paid member, you are welcome to upgrade here.
Now is the time to acknowledge what we wish to let go, or to carry forward. We can release old burdens, celebrate growth, and find renewal by embracing both the mystery and continuity of life. What do you want to let go of? What do you want to carry forward? Let us know in the comments.
If you enjoyed this, will you press the heart to let me know you are reading? And feel free to share this post. How do you feel about this time of year?
With love and gratitude,
Kate
Self-Discovery Journaling: Own Your Shadow Side
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