Shadow And Light: Revealing Our Truth; Facing Fears

Ansel Adams is a favorite photographer of mine for his gift of capturing nature's beauty in it's raw and unfiltered essence. Bold and brightly enhanced colors that penetrate our senses giving us immediate pleasure throughout our body and mind are hidden but always there waiting to be seen and revealed through our eyes. Black and white photo's sometimes mask and hide the blemishes and imperfections of the object at hand. Muting and blending so the naked eye is not drawn to them yet hoping to instead focus on the essence of the subject matter. Not everyone is able to do this, to sit in stillness and shed light on what is not there to the naked eye. If we are in a conscious state that allows us to be awake in all ways within us..............only then can we start to see truth.

So then the questions are: What are we hiding from? What are we afraid of? How do we reveal ourselves to show our truest self in the brightest light?

Carl Jung said: " The Most Terrifying Thing Is To accept Oneself Completely".

Human beings, we either hide in our shadows of our being and all you see is a silhouette of a figure floating through life unattached to reality. Or you have a human being that does everything to mask their real self hoping to paint a picture perfect self image. Also hiding behind the shadows waiting to be lifted.

Scars that are the result of pain, heartache, not feeling good enough cover up the wounds; but our conscious state tells us to hide them still because if given light...........who will embrace them?

A physical scar for example, I have one across my stomach from when I had my gallbladder taken out at 6 months pregnant with my daughter now 21; left me feeling not the same about my body. In my mind I was mutilated and unattractive. It took a while for the scar to lighten in color and to heal but i didn't look at my body the same. I hide behind my clothes. Never wearing a 2 piece bathing suit for fear of what people would think. This was all in my head, but one day something clicked. I got tired of hiding and owned my battle scar. This was now part of my journey forever to be etched not only a moment in time but to serve me a lesson in my own self deprecation of what I thought beauty was and acceptance. Once I became clear of this and fully in my own skin and loving myself in my skin...........I was free with of the weight from my own mind. I was beautiful.

In relationships we want to be accepted, loved, and valued. It is in our core being to want to connect to others on the deepest level as human beings. To feel our soul and spirit come to life but often times fear keeps us from it. We show people who we think they want to see because we think if we do........it leads to acceptance. We change and conform and lose ourselves to fit into the narrative of what a relationship should look like. Never fully being who we were meant to be because of fear, It takes on a life of its own sometimes taking you on a journey so far removed from truth that you don't know what is real and not real.

How then do we find our light in the shadows of our being? How do we discover our true self?

I am reminded of the story of Alice and Wonderland. It is a favorite story of mine growing up, but it wasn't until I got older that I understood the undertones of the book. Alice goes down the rabbit hole into her subconscious believing everything and everyone around her was real all the while sleeping in a dream state. When she wakes up from her dream she is in disbelief and trying to comprehend what was real and not real. Who was she?

“Who are you?” said the Caterpillar.

This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, “I—I hardly know, Sir, just at present—at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.”

“What do you mean by that?” said the Caterpillar, sternly. “Explain yourself!”

“I ca’n’t explain myself, I’m afraid, Sir,” said Alice, “because I am not myself, you see.”

When we allow our unconscious to become conscious we allow ourselves on a journey to awareness and all those parts within us come to life. All the things that were locked away hoping to never be discovered. When we let the light shine within us.........all self discovery leads to self Love. Love is Light in it's purest form and is what fuels the soul. It's always been within each and everyone of us waiting to come to life and spill all it's wonders and gifts that change us and transform us in every way. Never being the same once we are touch by the light.

Sometimes in order to self discovery we need to go down the rabbit hole as Alice did to find who we are. Sometimes to see past the black and white images that shade the God given colors that have been altered with a click of a button from a camera.............we need characters from the book as Alice encountered............in our real life to help us see the real us. To help us on our journey.

"To Confront A Person With His Shadow Is To Show Him His Own Light"- Carl Jung

There is that saying: "The right people will bring out the best in you" Sometimes we are crushed in spirit and drowning in the chaos of our mind that we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. This is when we need to surround ourselves with others that have the capacity to show empathy, compassion and understanding to be our light to navigate our inner self till we are able to walk on our own two feet. It takes a village to raise a child just as it does to come into our true self. When we can step out of our shadows and own who we are, it is a beautiful thing to witness:

"The Privilege Of A Lifetime Is To Become Who You Truly Are"- Carl Jung