Going Deeper Into Our Written Work
I know that going deeper into our written work involves meeting with the shadow side.
These shadows are sometimes called “the dark side.”
They are parts of us that we may want to hide because they make us look less than perfect.
Meeting with my shadow side is always an important time of authenticity for me.
I also know that in our lives today, some folks don’t want to sit with their shadows.
We want to only show what is considered beautiful and strong.
Someone has told us that life should always hold positive thoughts and expressions. Therefore, we were mistakenly informed to never look at the “dark side” because if we do, something bad may happen. Some believe that by uttering a truthful word that wasn’t all sunlight and rose petals they would be destroying something, or inflicting bad things into their world.
It’s like thinking that we are so powerful that if I say, today I am feeling lonely, the sky will crumble…
Or if I am contemplative and quiet the earth will tremble.
If I am bold enough to write that sometimes I feel unsure and afraid in this journey, that mountains will fall down…
Trust me, they won’t.
None of this will happen.
And so I sit with my shadows.
They have wisdom for me to see and understand.
They are not condemning and finger pointing when I listen deeper.
The older ones have wisdom if I sit quietly and listen beyond my own fears and conditioning. My shadow guests are not always kind in the way I think kindness should be… they do not bring me rainbows and flowers. Instead they are insightful, like a fire or the floods.
They pull back the superficial in my life. They destroy what is false. They reveal treasures that are hidden.
If I am paying attention and I take my hands away from trying to cover the ears of my heart…
If I stand in the confidence that my shadow side will not destroy me but help me move into more authenticity in my work …
I find that beneath the winds there are deeper dreams, deeper insight and the deeper calling.
Only if I am willing to sit here to ponder and go deeper into my writing will I even know that this is possible.
The featured art, Essence of Desert Rain, is available in art cards from my shop.
Beautifully articulated how sitting with shadows can be expansive and well worth any uncomfortableness or initial fear.
And yes, I totally agree that the act of writing does unearth so much unconscious thoughts and beliefs that it’s incredibly insightful. A year into your writing classes I feel I have softened where before too much rigidity was holding me back from living life with joy and love.
Dear Catherine,
Thank you so much for your comment. I smile deeply as I read your words. I nod, knowing that you have written with courage to a depth that has been indeed life changing. You are a beautiful and shinning testimony to this process. What was once good in your life has been enhanced by much deeper discovery and this uncovering shows. Please continue with your incredible writing!
Remember the radio show about the shadow? The Shadow Knows was part of the story line and yes, the shadow side knows a part of us that we don’t like to show or admit to but with Annie’s story about shadow/darkness it brought up inner shadows that have lurked among the cobwebs of my life. I hid that I grew up dirt poor on a farm in very, very rural Minnesota and everyone around us was not quite as poor but not wealthy by any means but when I went out in the ‘world’ to college with a heavy student loan I played a part that was not quite me but still was me as I wished to project it as I worked, saved and bought the best quality fabric I could find for so much of my wardrobe was made by me and wore the clothes so proudly that some thought I came from wealth. Wealth in terms of values and all but not so. I could make a nickel go a very long ways without showing any shame. Sales were my go to for shoes and other fancy stuff. However, I was never attracted to anyone because of wealth so it was for my own self worth at the time. That is one shadow side and I am sure more are spun by the spider that lurks in the corners of my world.
Thank you, Annie for bringing the shadows out from hiding.
Sharon Bergseid Rose
I loved reading your comments. It was so full of authentic truth and the unfolding of shadows. Thank you for sharing a part of your past with us, this is such a powerful example of the shadows in our lives… and “the spider who lurks in the corners of your world.” Keep writing! I would love to hear more!
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