“You need your enemies to be who you are.” – Deepak Chopra
In The Shadow Effect Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford and Marianne Williamson share their experience about “the shadow” – our unconscious selves that Carl Jung said our conscious ego rejects. This hidden self is instinctive and irrational – and prone to projection. Choosing to become aware of this part of me; a part I’d just as soon not see, could create a better world; reflect a better reality.
Deepak Chopra tells us that “in order to have manifestation you need opposing energies.” We see the world in contrasts; dark and light, up–down; pleasure and pain. I know when I’m happy because I’ve been sad. Debbie Ford says; “the hero of any story could not exist if it were not for the villains that challenge the hero along the way.”
Hmmm … I need my enemies! For real? How about all those things that annoy and frustrate me? Do I need them too? Debbie Ford uses a beach ball analogy describing how we stuff our darker emotions:
“Imagine that every quality, every emotion, every dark thought that you try to ignore, hide, or disown is like a beach ball you are holding underwater. You take your selfish self, you take your angry self, your too-good self, your not-good-enough self, your foolish self, your conceited self, all the selves. And suddenly you’re overwhelmed with all these beach balls you’re trying to manage. When you’re young, you can suppress a lot of your unwanted qualities. But then when you’re tired, heartbroken, or sick; when you no longer believe in the possibility of an exciting future; when your defenses are down; when your attention is on your family or some big promotion you’re going to win; when you’ve had one too many drinks—all of a sudden, boom! You or someone around you does something without thinking and one or more of your submerged beach balls pops up and hits you in the face. This is the Shadow Effect.”
Oh yeah, been there! Deepak Chopra and Debbie Ford both reveal the consequences of ignoring the shadow; pretty grisly stuff. My choice: consciously Wake-up and embrace my shadow – or meet it in a brilliant blaze of fire.
Do I really want to make this unwanted nastiness my friend? Debbie Ford tells me that “embracing our inner beast is the ticket to freedom.” Okay then, I will embrace that part of me – stop projecting and deal with the villains. Thinking it will be easier said than done. Best get crackin’.
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“Take a moment to wonder about the uniqueness of the mistakes you are about to make…your recklessness is nothing but the expression of a cosmic urge to challenge the general tendency of things to ebb toward a lukewarm and boring equilibrium.” ― Veronique Vienne, The Art of Imperfection
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