Inside The Darkness

#1. September 24, 2024

By David Mckelvain

Carl Jung called it the shadow. In thoughts that may haunt us late at night or show up unexpectedly at any time, we may refer to it as our “dark side.” In all truth, it is simply the parts of ourselves that we instinctually try to avoid, hide, or rationalize. We find ourselves in a world which has taught us a very specific way of being that is unique to each of us, depending on the environment we grew up in, the religions that surrounded us, and our own self-talk. All these things come together to shape the system, manner of being, and beliefs about what is acceptable. All too often, we discover that there are parts of who we are that are unacceptable, either to society, ourselves, or both. That is when we begin to dissociate and try on masks.

My purpose in this post is not to expose anyone, rip away masks, or leave anyone feeling defensive and fearing he or she might wind up naked and vulnerable before the world. When it comes to those efforts toward discovery, unveiling, unraveling, and understanding, I can only be concerned with my own shadow. I bring it up today, so I might share some of the treasure and beauty I have found lying right in the open once I allowed some light in the dark corners.

First, I will speak of courage, and even fearlessness. When we have things about ourselves that we try to conceal or mask, we begin to project those things on others. For example, if we have something we are being dishonest about, invariably and over time, the dishonesty grows, and if we were ashamed of it in the beginning, the shame grows as well. At some point, as an ego-defense, we begin to hide that piece of darkness from ourselves. One way we do this is by projecting the shadow onto others and begin to see more and more people as dishonest. Over time, the prevailing emotions and actions become fear based. As humans, we have a very strong tendency to fear that which is hidden, even when it is within us. We don’t consciously think about this all the time. In fact, we become very good at hiding it from our awareness.

The magic and the transformation happens when we set a course to face that which is hidden. When we become honest with ourselves it requires courage. When we follow through and become honest with the world, it gets easier, and the courage becomes second-nature. If we bravely walk through enough of these shadows within us, it begins to feel like fearlessness. Spend enough years doing it and it becomes literal fearlessness on many levels.

The truth is that it would require several hundred pages to delve into all the transformative dynamics that take place when we walk through the shadows with courage. One by one, we discover their darkness conceals treasures beyond our imagining. Probably, the most powerful thing we discover, is that we begin to develop a deeply rich insight into not only ourselves, but every person we interact with. Can you name anything more valuable to a creative writer or any writer, for that matter? I can’t!

Stories are the magic we weave. Virtually all stories are populated by characters who are human. We can write our characters and dialog by researching, by imagining, or by knowing them through our judgements. There’s a time and place for all those tools. Sometimes, certain characters may even fit in the story better by being the object of judgement or mystery, but in the end, there’s truly no adequate replacement for the writer’s understanding of humanity. That great understanding almost always requires some degree and some application of empathy. Empathy can only be found in the dark hallways of one’s own behavior, psyche, or soul.

I will leave you with a quote by C.G. Jung. – “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”

DM