I am not the only one who
THINKS
or most certainly
F          E          E          L          S
I    T.          .          .

But I keep looking for the rest of Summer
as soon as the last sparkler loses its sparkle
on the 4th of July
which got me to thinking about things
a little beyond Summer
and this one Summer of 2023
being the last one any of us will
ever live.        .       .
h      e      n      c      e:

100 Summers                                               

100 Summers from now
I’ll be gone
and so will everyone
I know and love
(and you too, dear reader)
My name won’t be
remembered or spoken
The Okay-ness
of this is that after
100 Summers gone
is there’ll be as many
Falls, Winters and Springs
taking their places as
100 Seasons before
without much explanation
(recently written for a 15 poems in 10 day challenge for local gems)

Uhhhhhhhhh
days gone by
are never really days
g  o  n  e.        .        .        .

]]> http://thecaringcatalyst.com/5984-2/feed/ 0 5984 http://thecaringcatalyst.com/your-groundhogs-shadow/ http://thecaringcatalyst.com/your-groundhogs-shadow/#respond Wed, 02 Feb 2022 12:00:00 +0000 http://thecaringcatalyst.com/?p=4935

Whether we wanted to or not
we celebrated
(ok, observed)
GROUNDHOG DAY
yesterday
which always brings to mind
the 1993 movie starring
Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell
which finds him reliving the same day
over and over again
when as a weatherman
he goes on location to the small town of
P U N X S U T A W N E Y
to film a report about their annual Groundhog Day.
His predicament drives him to distraction
until he sees a way of turning the situation
to his advantage. . .
A CLASSIC
which has had us not only
sarcastically sighing,
“THIS FEELS LIKE GROUNDHOG DAY”
during our way-too-long-pandemic. . .
and it’s done a little to maybe
help us recognize
not so much our own personal
GROUNDHOG DAY
as we dare catch a glimpse of
OUR SHADOW. . .

Here could be the big
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm of it all:

Know Yourself by Knowing Your Shadow

Understanding Carl Jung’s Concept of The Shadow. . .

I recently perused an article by Brenden Weber that pulled back the curtain on THE SHADOW

Have you ever wondered, how well do you really know yourself? As Plato once said, “know thyself.”

But why?

Typically, when we contemplate whether we know ourselves, the thoughts that come into our minds are our desires, values, and beliefs about the universe. These characteristics we form around ourselves is our code; something the “I” we create for ourselves identifies with. That saying, ‘every man has a code,’ we all do. You have a code that you see the world through and make decisions with, it’s the conscious ego. That code is customizable and changeable.

But what can we do with this awareness? We can ask ourselves, who am I? That’s really the most reliable thing you have, knowing yourself.

We all create this belief system we follow — the identity of you — that is your moral code, your sense of duty, your sense of purpose; the identity that becomes the driving force for action.

But is that truly you?

Ask yourself, have you ever done or said anything — on impulse — that you regretted afterward? You get frustrated and down on yourself — you scream in your head, “why did I say that?” And if that doesn’t relate, think of a time where you had this sudden emotional reaction — out of anger — that had you wondering, why couldn’t I control my emotions? My anger.

Those moments are us coming face to face with our shadow self.

The Shadow

As psychologist Carl Jung said:

“The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.”

The shadow within all of us is the parts of us we deny in ourselves and cast out into our own inner abyss. That abyss is the place within ourselves that our conscious ego has tried to forget about. We lock it up and throw away the key, yet it’s still there screaming, yelling, and demanding control over your actions.

Seeing the shadow within us is difficult, it’s in that black abyss of our mind that is difficult to enter, as it’s hard to face.

Yet, the judgmental creatures that we humans are, we are good at seeing those shadow traits in others, but not ourselves.

Think of your favorite celebrities and public figures. When a story of cheating in a relationship, corruption, or simply a public display of anger from one of them, the public quickly moves to pass judgment.

This judgment is a reaction that protects us from admitting to ourselves that those thoughts, reactions, and emotions lie within us. This idea is what Jung calls “projection.”

You see, our conscious mind wants to avoid our own shadow, yet our subconscious wants us to acknowledge that abyss of the shadow self, but instead of going into the abyss of our minds — our own shadow — we project and amplify the flaws of others.

We notice these shadow traits of aggression, carelessness, materialism, hatred, envy in the projections we create of others. But that projection becomes a reflection of you: a denial of the perceived inferior qualities and evils that we do not want to admit is deep within us.

We set our conscious mind on the throne of our ego.

Imagine that throne being a giant iceberg, your ego is the tip floating above the water, but that unconscious mind is where the shadow lurks in the endless mountain of ice that lies beneath.

To understand this, imagine a time you had a friend confront you about a fault, something as simple as arriving late to everything. When confronted you are met with this overwhelming rage for a moment. That rage is from your friend hitting the iceberg beneath the surface, the nerves you weren’t aware of, thus lack control of.

For Jung, when we deny the shadow, the more control it has of your thoughts, actions, and reactions.

As he said:

“everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.”

Those projections are ways of passing blame for those perceived negative emotions we have ourselves. If we are not aware this is happening, we project our negative traits upon others, blaming them for our own shortcomings and our own lack of personal happiness.

So how do we work with our shadow?

For one, we must become aware of it — dive into the abyss with it — and integrate it into the whole of our conscious ego. If we deny the shadow, we allow it to control us while providing our ego the illusion of control.

We must identify possible origins for our shadow triggers, such as repressed trauma, pain, fear, and aggression.

We must then integrate our shadow by acknowledging those parts in our everyday lives. With this knowledge of those parts, only then can we unlock the wisdom that being aware of it brings.

So instead of allowing fear to control us, we choose courage; instead of pain, we see an opportunity for strength; instead of allowing the trauma to define us, we see it as an opportunity for understanding; instead of allowing aggression to overcome us, we see an opportunity to find our passion.

This understanding bleeds into our interactions with others, instead of meeting other shadows with our own irrational shadow, we meet it with compassion by knowing it’s a trigger they’ve not fully understood and integrated into themselves.

Jung said beautifully about what integrating your shadow into the whole can bring:

“Such a man knows that whatever is wrong in the world is in himself, and if he only learns to deal with his own shadow he has done something real for the world. He has succeeded in shouldering at least an infinitesimal part of the gigantic, unsolved social problems of our day.”

You see, changing the world begins with knowing yourself. . .
R I G H T ?
Hey. . .
GROUNDHOG DAY
is already in the rearview mirror
for another year
but THE SHADOW. . .
I  know sometimes it feels like we live Groundhog Day
every day just like the movie. . .
and even though we most likely know
that’s not exactly true
When is there a day
that we don’t ever live
without our shadow. . . ?  

The ones we make
the ones we create
the ones we try to hide from
and certainly
the ones we don’t always want to notice—
Those Shadows
The real kicker
is most of the time
we don’t actually acknowledge
that it takes light to make the shadow. . .

That too
can be self created
manufactured,
recognized,
acknowledged
and lived in. . .
The Shadow’s purpose
may not always have meaning
may not always feel like it has a purpose—
look closer. . .
See what the shadow is actually shading
but never quite masking. . .

. . .and know your
Personal Power Source
not only not only enables
but pleads

C                     O                     L                     D

there’s only one true way to

E          M          B          R          A          C          E                   I          T

.          .          .with       W      A      R      M      T      H

In the Southern Hemisphere, the night of lune 20 is the longest night of the year, marking the arrival of Winter.          .          .

W E L C O M I N G

The Cold

as a GIFT

is part of being ONE

with Nature

and all of it’s cycles.          .          .

E     V     E     N

when

E          S          P          E          C          I          A          L          L          Y

when it’s in

U  S.        .        .

I’m one of those  strange ones

that actually likes WINTER

letting everyone I know:

I   CAN   ALWAYS   GET   WARM, BUT   I   CAN’T   ALWAYS   GET   OR   STAY  COOL

One of my most favorite authors is

John Updike

and in his essay, THE  COLD

he tells us,

“COLD   IS   THE   ABSENCE   OF   HEAT, AND   YET   IT   FEELS   LIKE   A PRESENCE–A   VIGOROUS   HOSTILELY   ACTIVE   PRESENCE   IN   THE  AIR…”

The ancients honored this rite of passage with ceremonies and celebrations. The Iroquois used to go to sleep early in the longest night, convinced that Mother Night reigned over the Earth and walked among people’s dreams to send them messages. At dawn, the tribe got together to exchange visions. The Incas celebrated Inti Raymi (Sun Festival): they received the first rays of the Solstice with open arms, throwing kisses at Apu Inti (Sun God). In Patagonia, the mapuche tribe still celebrate We Tripantu, or New Year, a festival of purification and gratitude for the renewal of life…

We are told

not so shyly

by Scientist and Ecologists:

We might have lost the pulse of so many vital cycles, we might have made a mess of them with our unconscious interventions, but we have never stopped being a part of them. Little by little, guided by some unerring voices, we rediscover, in Mary Oliver’s words our “place in the family of things.” Scientists speak of biophilia – the love of living things that beats even in the most relentless city-dweller, and they resort to biomimetics to learn from nature how to solve problems, even those we created by trying to thwart its plans.

C O L D      and    W A R M T H

The two meet in most unlikely

yet predictable ways

     I   N          U   S.          .          .

T  H  E            T  R  U  T  H :

There is no BLINDNESS worse than that which keeps you from seeing THE LIGHT you Bring.          .          .

T  H  E            T  R  U  T  H:

There’s always more WINTER in us than we’ll ever accept or Embrace.     .    .

T  H  E            T  R  U  T  H:

There’s always more Warm Light in us than we’ll ever accept or Embrace.     .     .

T  H  E            T  R  U  T  H:

T  H  E            T  R  U  T  H:

We    don’t    have    to    be    fully    ILLUMINATED    to    SHINE.       .       .

T  H  E            T  R  U  T  H:

W I N T E R

like any other season

has never lasted

for  an  ever

and the one that looms before us

and harshly at times

WITHIN   US

won’t either.          .          .

The Cure for Winter

isn’t the coming of Spring

nor is it moving from one  WARM  location to another.          .          .

It’s     E M B R A C I N G     IT

with a Warmth you possess

and   desperately   needs

S            H            A            R            I            N            G

The  Result:

W            I            N            T            E            R

isn’t   another   Season

It’s   Another   REASON

to   become

what   we   never   could

WITHOUT     IT:

W     A     R     M     E     R.          .          .

B     R     I     G     H     T     E     R.        .          .

and in some

beautifully

innocent

w    a     y

reaches within us

and takes us to

that small child

and the World of Blinkless

w     o     n     d     e     r

where it’s always warmly lit

no matter what the temperature.          .          .

S    E    E

B    E

F    R    E    E

t            h            a            t

in   the   Warm   Cold