The Shadow of Ourselves Transforms into Peace

Carl Jung spoke of the Shadow. This is the part of ourselves we deny, bury, ignore and avoid. It is the negativity that runs our lives, keeps us from following our dreams, prevents us from saying sorry and looking at the world as failed.

When you face your own shadow with love, it dissolves. For forgiveness is for-giving. To look at oneself with honesty and curiosity gives power to the enlightenment within, to deny our negativity keeps us in patterns that become unconscious as feelings are pushed down. This then turns into projection where we are seeing ourselves in others (how else do we know).

The key to happiness is to face our darkness with love and understanding, acknowledging the shadow, own it and heal the past. As we do a new horizon awakens and joy becomes the sunrise of a new day, indeed a new life.

Carl Jung was a Swiss Psychoanalyst and very wise. He did work on his own shadow. When I was in Europe I went to his home in Boligen, Switzerland. He lived on Lake Zurich and around his house were engraved motifs and symbols. His home was a medieval castle with a tower in the centre and walls. The tower represented the ego and the walls, the defences we all put up to protect our ego. The ego identifies as the ‘I’. He learned to transcend the tower and bring down the walls.

We can all do it when we face life with courage and no longer deny our negative side but work on owning it and transcending it with love. That is how we reach peace in the world.

THE SHADOW OF SELF

The shadow of a doubt,
Casting a dark reflection,
For shadows climb walls,
Shadows trick the egoic mind,
For fear has always been the illusion of time.

What is real?
The shadow or the light?
Why do we imagine all stories are true?
Why do we listen to chinese whispers?
For stories become fantastic with each telling,
For life is distraction and compelling,
When we hide from ourselves.

Many are afraid of the dark,
Many allow it to rule their lives,
They stay indoors safe and secure,
They keep the lights on to ward off the night,
Yet dark and light cannot exist without each other,
Two sides of the same coin,
The candle in the sun can never be seen,
For how would one see the brightest light unless in darkness.

Many are feeling despair,
Many lives are in disrepair,
Many romantics no longer love,
For they feel betrayed by the lover of life.

Yet life is a constant rhythm,
A walk in the forest feels alive and free,
The breeze tickles your nose and you sneeze,
The leaves rustle and crush beneath your feet,
The blanket of night descends gently in peace,
As the community of life silently sleeps.

Did you know the world is neutral?
A system self regulating to a heart beat,
An ecosystem of interconnections that speak,
Humming with rhythm and secret signals,
Communicating life to an endless chorus.

We project onto the canvas,
Of our world,
We project onto others,
Our inner world,
For our world is in crisis,
For we are lost in the black forest,
We cannot see the wood for the trees,
The trees are just wood,
Yet life is not an inanimate object,
It pulsates and vibrates alive and wild,
For life is an energy cycle,
And what we think returns,
What we see we think,
Yet if we think to see,
We become the creators of our reality.

What would happen if you chose again?
If right was wrong and wrong was right?
If you dis-identified with your life,
And chose to see the universe as your home,
It you watched every thought and asked simple questions,
Am I in fear or love?
Am I negative or positive?
Am I peace or war?
For many have chosen war,
They are battling themselves,
For they build defences to keep love out,
They remain in patterns of reinforcing walls,
They choose not to look at buried treasure,
Preferring to return one rainy day,
Yet the rain pours as stormy tears,
For too many years we have swallowed emotion,
Yet pain must rise like underground water,
The wellspring must re-surface,
For eventually it bubbles to the top,
When the pressure is released at last.

So my friend look for the light inside,
Stay with truth and look deeply within,
For the source of sorrow is buried alive,
The pain of your country burns in the fire,
Yet the embers of rebirth must be rekindled with joy,
To play with ideas and give permission to live,
For when you forgive yourself the burden of your plight,
Your life will take off on the wings of a kite,
New beginnings blowing on the wind,
A welcomed sight,
For the winds of change are coming to uplift you tonight,
The horizon welcomes a new dawn,
As you sleep to awaken from your bad dream,
In my arms you were always seen,
And the beauty of your heart will sweeten in time,
For the world awaits your kind smile,
Awaits your child to play in the sun,
That is innocent, fun and refreshed,
Keep on keeping on in this test,
Now it is time to do your very best.