The Dark Side of the Light Chasers

We have to uncover, own, and embrace all of who we are, the good and bad, dark and light, strong and weak, and honest and dishonest.

Everything we hate, resist, or disown about ourselves takes on a life of its own, undermining our feelings of worthiness.

Our society nurtures the illusion that all the rewards go to the people who are perfect. But many of us are finding out that trying to be perfect is costly. The consequences of emulating the “perfect person” can eat away at us, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Many of us have spent too much time chasing the light only to find more darkness. “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light,” said Jung, “but by making the darkness conscious.”

To be divine is to be whole and to be whole is to be everything: the positive and the negative, the

Love and Awakening, John Welwood

We project it onto the world, onto our families and friends, and onto strangers.

projection, whereby we deny crucial parts of ourselves by giving them away.

“the shadow is the person you would rather not be.”