Reflective essay after reading books on the “shadow self”
Almost everyone wants to think of themselves as a good person, a moral person, a person who always puts their best foot forward and lives righteously in the world. But there is another universal truth that is much harder to digest: no matter how well-meaning and pure heart, there is a dark side.
"The 'shadow' is a term coined by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung to describe those aspects of our personality that we reject and repress. The problem, however, is that these thoughts and actions do not match our self-image. After all, we like to think we are good people.
So the mind ignores these aspects of ourselves. We don't own our shadow. We suppress it, we justify it, we forgive it, and we give it other names.
"The shadow is a moral issue that challenges the whole self-personality because no one can become aware of it without considerable moral effort. To be aware of it requires the recognition that the dark side of the personality is real. This act is a necessary condition for any kind of self-knowledge."
- Carl Jung, The Tower of Eternity (1951). CW 9, part 2: p.14
Jung believed that true self-knowledge is the only path to wholeness. The key to taming the shadow is not to ignore or deny it, but to accept and integrate it. This is why questions are so important to our self-development. How can we hope to be the best version of ourselves if we don't have the courage to face ourselves?