10.7.24 Thoughts on inviting the shadow in... The shadows that stand around us are often living in exile, hidden parts of who we once were. The excavation process of the shadow can be painful stepping into radical accountability. The shadows exist as rejected aspects of human conditioning, they can exist in any shape or size and surface at any given moment. Much of our subconscious years are spent suppressing the shadow side of ourselves. Unknowing, we judge and reject ourselves as a way to stay attached to the cultures, family, religions, & systems that define our early conditioning. Our survival seeks out that attachment in our formative years, and if that conditioning is constricting to a child it can lead to self-rejection as a form of self-preservation. That judgement can follow in shadow for many years after, impacting all kinds of decisions, without realization that it is managing our fear or pain. As awareness happens around this shadow work, it can be easy to isolate one...