I have admired a well-known teacher of shadow work for her contribution in the field.  She tweets and promotes herself in her workshops, on Web sites, and in books, with statements such as, “Be liberated from your past and your shadow,” “Live your greatest dream,” and “Own your inspirational self” by confronting your shadow and your dark half. I had not seen a photo of this person since the early ‘90s and decided to watch a recent film she had made regarding her shadow work. As I watched her lecture, I noticed that her face was not moving and appeared frozen. Her voice sounded different, almost muffled, as if her lips were getting in the way of her forming her words. I compared her early photo to the video and noticed a remarkable increase in the size of her lips. I wondered if it could be possible that her shadow had sneaked up on her?

 

Individuals who struggle with the aging process are typically conflicted with death. Some will go to great lengths to repress their emotions regarding death.  When a person goes under the knife or injects poison into her body for the sake of maintaining a youthful external beauty, this person has succumbed to the shadow that is operating at our cultural collective levels. Our cultural shadow is a powerful darkness that few Americans escape, and to find that liberation takes deep inner work in understanding your relationship with death, needing approval from others, desiring self-love, and the aging process as this process is associated with creativity, productiveness and self-worth.

 

Consciousness work takes integrity and commitment with the self and the developed tool of listening to the self, especially during the time when you have entered into darkness with an object, a person, or a situation, such as feeling the aging of the body. The shadow is insidious and can appear from a place of seduction and intoxication with the power we feel during times when we have not allowed ourselves to be vulnerable and open. Consciousness work is a daily practice to remain awake and it is easy to fall asleep and forget that we are all growing and learning through our life experience.