Think of someone you know whom you don’t like very much. Maybe you even hate this person. On a piece of paper, write down a description of that person. Write down what it is about this individual’s personality that you don’t like. Be as specific as you can.
Consider this, what you have written down is some hidden part of yourself – some part that you have suppressed or hidden. It is what Carl Jung would call your shadow. Maybe it’s a part of you that you fear, can’t accept, or hate for some reason. Maybe it’s a part of you that needs to be expressed or developed in some way. Maybe you even secretly wish you could be something like that person whom you hate.
photo credit: h.koppdelaney
How many friends or romantic partners do you have who fit the description of the “hated” person? The exercise always leads to an interesting exploration on how we project suppressed parts of ourselves onto others, and about why we sometimes choose these “hated” people for our close relationships.
Here are some Shadow Self related quotes to consider …
“Denial is pushing something out of your awareness. Anything you hide in the basement has a way of burrowing under the house and showing up on the front lawn.”
“To live without the creative potential of our own destructiveness is to be a cardboard angel.”
“Shadow work leads to a practice I refer to as the pursuit of the unhypocritical life, which some might call living with integrity.”
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
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