Shadow Work

There’s a side of life that most of us don’t want to face, a part of ourselves that we’d just rather ignore.

Some of us do a really good job of this. Like Luke Skywalker, we want nothing to do with the Dark Side. Ah, but Yoda is wise. There’s a reason he made Luke go into that cave. He needed to face the scary stuff. And when he defeated the image of Vader, it was himself.

There’s a shadow side to all of us. And we’ve got to face it. Not to get angry about it or destroy it, or obsess over it. But we must face it. And what do we do with it? Ay, there’s the rub. I think the most genuine response is sadness. It is sad to realize things about ourselves that we don’t like. And it’s disheartening to learn that there’s no quick fix for it either. Could this be the “thorn in the flesh” that Paul talked about in Corinthians? Or that Billy Joel sang about in “The Stranger”?

It’s often a painful process to face the shadow in yourself. It never seems to happen too early in life. Perhaps because it takes a certain level of wisdom—or, at least maturity—to confront it. Sometimes we just need to recognize it and carry it around with us until we know what to do with it. Hopefully we’ll uncover some meaning in it.

And hopefully we can get to a point where we’re not afraid of this side of ourselves. It’s part of who we are, after all. Many of the ancient wisdom traditions fully realized this balance of dark and light, and I think it’s something we in the Western world especially need to regain. If we don’t see—or refuse to acknowledge—the shadow side of ourselves, it can trap us. But once we see it and begin to deal with it, we can move past it…or through it…or with it. I don't think we can really be whole without coming to terms with this side of ourselves.

And trust me; I have not conquered this concept. But I have begun learning about it and dealing with it. It’s not exactly fun, but there is a freedom in it. Perfection isn’t our goal, anyway, is it? If it is, we’re doomed before we even start. And who wants that pressure?