SB LACROIX

Most who are on a spiritual path are familiar with the term shadow work.  It is the act of shining the light of our consciousness on parts of ourself we have rejected and pushed into what is called the shadow.  It is referred to as the shadow because it is unconscious; the parts of ourself we are not aware of. 

Shadow work is often a painful process, but it is a process of self-awareness and growth that leads us to who we really are.  Embracing the shadow is to no longer deny the parts of self that, for whatever reason, we believed was not acceptable or safe to exhibit.

In our shadow lies the totality of who we authentically are. The shadow does not consist of only negative or undesirable aspects of us. We can suppress positive or desirable characteristics as well. Unlocking the door to where the shadow resides and turning on the light not only reveals the parts we may rather stay in the dark, but it can reveal parts that we may be joyful we have been reunited with.

There are different paths to doing shadow work. I personally can only speak to the path I myself took, which was writing. Writing allowed that which was unconscious to become words on a screen or a piece of paper. In those written words would be emotions, memories, and pain. Anger, abandonment, and grief manifested in poems and pieces of prose. It was as if I gave the fractured parts of me permission to speak and be known, and they did, over a period of years.  

I wrote for decades. A lot of what I wrote was not fit for print as its nature was too personal, but that which was fit, was eventually printed. Poetry is my first love. My shadow adored it as it could reveal itself and still remain unseen by its estimation. A poem is left to interpretation by the reader, and this was a “safer” method of expressing the self. Prose followed as the shadow got bolder, a more direct method of expression. Parts of myself that were rejected and pushed into the shadow were spilled onto paper and I saw them, and I acknowledged them.

Then came the task of accepting these parts into the self I was now aware of.  The tone of my writing changed from grief and sorrow to anger and vengeance. It was the phase where I fought for the parts of me that had been fractured off and stuffed out of my consciousness to filter through and express those emotions. Writing poetry and fiction allowed for those emotions to be released, and to finally be “heard” by the mind that had buried them.

Acknowledging and accepting the parts of the shadow and reintegrating them into the conscious self is very healing. Often, until these parts are seen, accepted, and loved do they stop acting out like a child in need of attention who will get it, one way or another. The shadow wants to be acknowledged. It wants to be accepted. It wants to be loved, unconditionally. Until it is, it will act out in ways we may not understand. We will see its aspects in others as it is mirrored back, desperately hoping to be acknowledged.

We cannot come into the world of illusion and shadow without falling into both.  If we understand and accept this, we can find our way out. It is a process of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and self-healing. It is the path of a soul who wants to re-member itself to become whole.

“Shadow work is the path of the heart warrior.” ~ Carl Jung

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