Accepting our shadow as a way back to wholeness
The key to joyful happy full life is the acceptance of all of yourself. It was C.G. Jung who first developed the concept of the “shadow” – we all have parts of ourselves that we would rather hide than show to ourselves or the world. These are those qualities we deem “unacceptable” due to many reasons – perhaps our parents told us that such and such people are bad, or to be this and this is wrong. Or it was our culture and community we grew up in that portrayed certain characteristics in a negative way. At a very early age, we learn to disassociate from these qualities in ourselves…
The death of the self: on toddler troubles, being human and name change
Sounds like an absurd combination of things and what does it have to do with the self? So here’s what happened last week – a mush of emotional turmoil, child’s excrement and personal transformation. My 2 1/2 year-old son Sylvian woke up in the middle of the night with a dreadful cough. He was wheezing and it sounded like he was barely able to breathe. I’ve never heard him like that, it sounded like he was suffocating. Together with my partner we wondered shall we go to the Emergency department. A short while later my son went back to sleep, still wheezing but at least able to breathe. In the morning…
