Why do so few of us live an empowered creative life? The answer is hidden in our "Golden Shadow." Consider that Creation needs you to be your most vibrant and creative self. Life wants to express something unique and powerful through you that will help to heal your family, friends, community or the world in some way.
When we speak of the shadow we usually think about the more shameful aspects of ourselves that we have disowned. We often do not consider that we also disown our brightest light.
Psychiatrist Carl Jung called our submerged creative potential the "Golden Shadow." We can discover our golden shadow in our intense admiration of other people. The bright qualities that we admire in others represent the disowned aspects of our unlimited creative potential.
The Golden Shadow is our submerged greatness. The Golden Shadow hides undiscovered strengths. Our strengths wait, for us to heal our emotional wounds. Our unique gifts live behind the gate of our emotional pain.
Strong Choices or Weak Choices?
"Briefly stated, we feel threatened by another's aliveness and try to damp it down or destroy it as ours was dampened down or destroyed. "Do unto others as that was done unto you."
~ Stephen Wolinsky
In human history, people have risen out of childhoods of severe pain and neglect to become powerful creators and healers. While others, who may have experienced lesser forms of childhood neglect, go on to make choices to self-destruct in ways that burden all who love them.
In each moment we can choose either strength or weakness, love or fear, inspiration or depression. And, no matter what has happened to us, at any stage of life, we can start to build our creative power by making good choices. Each choice to develop confidence, beauty, love, creativity or gratitude builds a strong momentum towards the next positive choice.
Our Golden Shadow is comprised of a specialized set of disowned strengths that are needed to heal our particular life challenges. As we become increasingly self-aware, we will uncover the details of where we shut down our light in the past. As we understand how we dim down our light, we see how we subconsciously choose to have problems, illnesses, addictions, and failures.
Your Magnificent Gifts
It is important to know that we may, or may not find outer recognition for our golden character traits. If we rely on the outer mirror of common consensus, it will feel easier to reflect the darkness around us instead express the light within us.
Reclaiming your light can bring up anxiety and a fear of not fitting into the ego club of consensus dimness. We must find ways to recognize and express our own soul beauty. To find your light, you will need to go back to the places in your life where you have made choices for self-diminishment and choose again.
Spiritual teacher Chuck Spezzano shares:
"If you have a problem, there is something you could give that would resolve the situation. Any time we experienced trauma, there were soul level gifts that we could have given to prevent it. The trauma was a mistaken choice that led us down the path of the ego...
Most people are frightened of the gift that could have given because it was so magnificent. The gift was big enough to change a family pattern, or significantly help a family member, but it seemed too big. It was so glorious that it would have caused them to stand out too much, and they wouldn't have been able to hide. They thought people would expect them to lead or accomplish other great things."