Bond with your Shadow
A track dedicated to the great Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung who discovered that Inside each of us is a second self, another being named the Shadow. The inner Shadow, a universal motif or image as much reality as the casting of an outer shadow when you’re in sunlight.
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For most of us, that creates insecurity, because the Shadow is weak, most flawed, inferior or even disgusting parts of yourself. It’s everything you don’t wish to be and it doesn’t matter how rich, beautiful, or famous you are.
"I was nervous and it was a self-conscious disaster"
Dealing with this insecurity in public speaking, at social events, in confrontations with authority, we see our Shadow as a source of humiliation that we try to hide, usually through some kind of perfectionism. The counter-intuitive truth is that when we reveal the Shadow, we give in to its imperfections, its nature changes. It becomes a source of creativity and confidence.
I discovered this by accident years ago when I gave a training seminar. I was going to give a perfect performance, instead, I was nervous and it was a self-conscious disaster. Halftime I was feeling humiliated ready to stop the session and walk away but then something strange happened. In my mind’s eye, I saw an old osseous version of myself not terrified the way I was quite the opposite. Confident and determined to help me, I felt myself picking up his energy and advance finding my way back on stage. For the rest of the session I spoke without fear, without notes and it ended as a standing ovation.
I met my Shadow. I also knew Jung believed you could integrate the Shadow into your personality by using dreams and active imagination. My vision a force that allowed me to accept my shadow and to express myself with a confidence I’d never felt before. Clearly, there was much more to the Shadow than I’d dreamed.
You can’t bond with your Shadow unless you can see it. Visualise yourself in a situation in front of any number of people that make you insecure and self-conscious. Now, look at yourself from their point of view to see yourself as they see you. What do you look like? Say Hi to the version of yourself named your Shadow.
It may look very different from the person you think of as you. A handsome ladies’ man might have a Shadow that looks like a troll. A gregarious female executive could have a shadow that’s a lonely little girl. Once you’ve identified your Shadow, concentrate on its presence and imagine you’re forming an unbreakable bond with it. Tell the Shadow, “You’re with me at all times,” while feeling a physical connection to it. Creating a bond with your Shadow is the first step that allows you and your Shadow to speak with one voice—a voice of authority.
It’s a type of authority you’re not used to because you generate it from inside yourself and allows you to trigger this force at will, particularly in your most insecure moments.