Shadow Self Work: The purpose of integrating your shadow self

Facing + Embracing the Shadow Self. How do you describe your shadow self?

 

She.

She is wild, creative, and flays about with reckless abandon attempting to drag me into the depths with her. I consistently find myself deep in her lake waters pulling out the wisdom of her wildness. She stays in the depths of colors, ranging from black, dark purple, and dark red. Her eyes are dark purple, a color that some mistake for black, but when rare opportunities of light find its way into her face, the sparkle of purple calls you into her mischief. She wears leather, animal fur, punk goth style full of the ancient forests within her, her ears giving away her elven lineage. The tone of her skin brown, curls fall around her cascading down to her hips.

She whispers in my ear, commanding the new adventures that are to come. Sometimes I attempt to reason with her, and other times, I pack up my truck, get on the road post haste, and desire off-roading wherever possible. She shows me images of my future motorcycle while she laughs with the wind in her hair, knives on her belts, and boots made for stomping through the terrain.

Integrating the shadow self

There is a sweet side to her. She loves being rough and sweet so that she can be a walking contradiction. I integrate her into pretty much everything I do and realize when I don’t bring her into the fold of the dreams, there is a lack of passion, sensuality, and that element of danger that keeps my soul alive. She knows precisely what I need for this life, so I’m not consumed by the boredom of being “normal” and living a static life without adventure.

She is the one who bursts out into anger for no reason and wants to scream as loud as possible to the idiots that she walks by every day. WHY WON’T THEY WAKE the FUCK UP and be truer to themselves? Lean into their aggressiveness toward passion and purpose? Not the stupid anger that is created by insecurities and being afraid of a wild unknown. 

The self that integrates their shadow. 

 

This month’s Ask April — “How do I Integrate my Shadow Self?”

Check out this video from a IG live I did with my dear friend Dante (cropped to make viewing easier) to answer this months ‘Ask April’  

 

Share with me what came up for you. How does your shadow self want to be integrated?