[in it]

Yeah..I know I looked the definition up of that a few times. I don't look at it as a good thing to be.

[Albatross]

SOME WISE QUOTES ABOUT SHADOW - FOR PEOPLE WHO DISCOVER SOMETHING WHICH THEY DO NOT LIKE IN SELF, BUT THAT IS PATH FOR HEALING, BEING AWARE OF OWN SHADOW IS QUITE ACCOMPLISHMENT

"If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."

"The Shadow cannot be eliminated. It is the ever-present dark brother or sister. Whenever we fail to see where it stands, there is likely to be trouble afoot. For then it is certain to be standing behind us. The adequate question therefore never is: Have I a shadow problem? Have I a negative side? But rather: Where does it happen to be right now? When we cannot see it, it is time to beware! And it is helpful to remember Jung's formulation that a complex is not pathological per se. It becomes pathological only when we assume that we do not have it; because then IT HAS US!"
- Edward C. Whitmont -

 Depth psychology has presented us with the undeniable wisdom that the enemy is constructed from denied aspects of the self. Therefore, the radical commandment "Love your enemy as yourself" points the way toward both self-knowledge and peace. We do, in fact, love or hate our enemies to the same degree that we love or hate ourselves. In the image of the enemy, we will find the mirror in which we may see our own face most clearly.
- Sam Keen -

 Shadow work leads to a practice I refer to as the pursuit of the unhypocritical life, which some might call living with integrity.
- Jeremiah Abrahms -

 To practice lightside/dark side thinking is to practice holding opposites, a subversive act in our either/or culture. For Jung, this act is a developmental step, the end of a naive all-good view or a cynical all-bad view, which results in a more nuanced perception of reality and a capacity to tolerate paradox and ambiguity. This, too, is one of the promises of shadow-work.
- Connie Zwieg, Ph.D. and Steve Wolf, Ph.D. -

 The Shadow, of course never dies; we always cast a shadow. But how we relate to it, and it to us, depends on whether it is known. Once known, we have inevitably lost an innocence that can never be recovered. What replaces it is a knowledge of the complexity of our nature. Sometimes we are fortunate, and this knowledge elicits a kindness and tolerance in us for others — even, perhaps for ourselves.
- Deena Metzger -


The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.
- Joseph Campbell -

[Albatross]

How Early Childhood Oedipal Narcissistic Development Affects Later Adult Intimacy and Relationships
by Richard Boyd, Body Mind Psychotherapist, Energetics Institute, Perth, Western Australia Copyright 2011

Strongly recommended reading. There You can find a lot easy understanding reading about not good relationships with people as consequence of bad parenting...

[Velika]

Wow, fantastic article! Thank you for sharing this.

[Albatross]

I am surprised that there is no any feedback about our MLCers and this article.

[Ready2Transform]

To be honest, I can definitely make some suppositions from this article based on the limited information I have about my xH's early childhood development, but it's always going be speculative because I wasn't there and don't really know. I know we had what I felt was a healthy relationship for 20 years, so I really can't say that early childhood development stunted him in that way. I just know he had a breakdown at midlife, and it was likely related to things that happened then. Not denying that there isn't a setup somewhere earlier, and God knows there were FOO issues, but I think there's a reason these crises happen at midlife that is related to biochemical factors. But thank you for sharing it, as it is definitely another for the 'bookmarks' folder that I will keep on hand.