The term “shadow” can be a bit nebulous. Carl Jung helped us grasp the concept in his archetypal psychology. In Psychology Today, Stephen Diamond reminds us that the shadow is:

“…the ‘dark side’ of our personality—dark both because it tends to consist predominantly of the primitive, negative, socially or religiously depreciated human emotions and impulses like sexual lust, power strivings, selfishness, greed, envy, anger or rage, and due to its unenlightened nature, completely obscured from consciousness.”

Yes, please! It’s exactly these spaces I seek to know within myself; not because I’m a sadist, but perhaps because I’m a purist. I want to know the darkest depths of my soul, where fear and self-sabotage lie.

Rejection of the shadow is common, but by reclaiming the discarded self, we gain greater power, love and affect on this planet.