But there is one very significant downside to repressing parts of ourselves: they begin to fester and amplify, sabotaging our lives. Cutting off and burying certain parts of ourselves was a necessary part of our survival. In order to be loved and accepted, we learned as children to hide away those parts of ourselves that were not met with praise and approval, and adopt only those traits and behaviors that were met with open arms. Our shadows contain the parts of us that have been shunned, denied, rejected or otherwise negatively condemned by our parents, family members, and societies growing up. Our shadows contain everything that is considered ugly, "bad," shameful, weird, taboo or socially unacceptable. There is a good reason why our shadows remain anonymous and locked away within the dark depths of our minds. We only glimpse them during fits of rage, nightmares, pettiness, revenge, paranoid thoughts, drug and sex binges, and anything that verges on the edge of "insane" behavior. In fact, our shadow selves are so private that usually we are not even aware of their existence. The second face we keep private – it is called the shadow. The first face we show to the world – this facade is called the ego.
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As spiritual beings having a human experience we have developed two faces. This is a fact of life that we must face and embrace. We are all part angel and part devil inside.
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SHADOW WORK JOURNAL 15 Ways to Illuminate the Dark Side of Your Psyche