by Macalaex, the Immaculate
As Autumn falls upon us again, we can symbolically take this time to further our connection with our shadow side, our dark side. We had the great opportunity to bask in the light of ourselves during the summer. We had plenty of time to display the qualities successfully integrated into our personalities that make us attractive, brilliant, and desirable. But what about our shadow side? Isn’t the shadow directly responsible for the shining of the opposite side? Isn’t it the place where we learn the most valuable lessons?
The more of our shadow side that we bring into the light, the brighter we will shine as human beings. The way in which we bring our shadow side to the light is through awareness. When we can accept the things that bring us pain, make us uncomfortable or force us to be honest with ourselves, we then begin to accept more of who we are. I ask, who is more well-rounded: a person who denies their weaknesses and flaws, or someone who accepts them? A person who can acknowledge their weaknesses is able to gain a component of support, whether it be from another person, an ideal, or from a strength they already possess. Therefore, the weakness becomes a source of strength through support.
Our dark side also consists of painful experiences we have endured that have not yet been reconciled with our core self. This means that we have not yet been able to look at a particular experience with compassion; compassion for the circumstances and all parties involved, including ourselves. Once we can see through the lens of compassion, we can then extract the true lessons that the experience embodies, using these lessons to further the evolution of our soul and reconnect to the true purpose of experience.
It is the emotions connected to an experience that we must process to gain the treasures hidden within. For example, the painful emotions that come from feeling betrayed should be processed from a perspective of understanding the condition of the other person and why they betrayed you. Usually, it has absolutely nothing to do with you and everything to do with where that person was in their journey; they were simply satisfying their perceived wants, needs and desires. Without compassion you may see yourself as a victim and close your heart to protect yourself from never being hurt again, missing the spiritual lesson. The conscious decision would be to gain the lesson of a more discerning eye for selfishness and inconsideration. This perspective gives us the confidence to open our hearts to compassionate understanding and trust again.
Any emotion that we run from to avoid its negative effect on our being can be considered a part of our dark side. Once we decide to meet these emotions that are intimately woven through our experiences, we will bring what is in the dark to light, allowing us to spread our inner essence to the world, impacting people in a positive way. We must constantly remind ourselves there are great challenges and work to be done on the dark side of ourselves.
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