Thoughts on Shadow Work

unmaskingthedivine:

I think one of the most difficult things about making headway in shadow work is realizing what you have to let go of in order to continue to progress. You start acknowledging the situations you’re shadow has created in your life and everything you need to reevaluate and essentially back away from. 

It’s baffling how attached we get to things that aren’t even pleasant or productive– how these things latch onto our egos, becoming integrated with our assumed identities and then dictate our lives in ways even more influential than the “positive” aspects of ourselves. It’s mind-boggling to realize how tightly we clench these things, feeling as though if we let go of them part of ourselves would go, too. And it’s true. 

Shadow work is essentially a practice of stripping away our egos one layer at a time– removing all of those defensive layers we’ve built up, dismissing them even after everything we feel they’ve done for us. It’s as if we’re saying goodbye to an old, dear friend who has helped us through so many rough and troubling times, times we wouldn’t have survived without them, but who simultaneously wreaked havoc in our lives. 

It’s bittersweet.