Over the next few weeks I will share some common themes that block integrating the Shadow.  When we individually and collectively ignore the shadow – the more dense it becomes and more likely we are to repeat history. The first is ignoring the implications of intergenerational patterns. As I sit with the news of Ukraine (and other war-torn areas in the world) my heart goes to the legacy of trauma and repatterning it will create from an epigenetic level to relational. The deep psychological and emotional pain that is carried into the bodies of those exposed to violence, intimidation and daily dysregulation of the nervous system.  There are also patterns of courage, love and leadership in action modeled as a counter force by Ukraine’s leadership. 

Our individual shadow carries the collective, including our family, cultural and geographic histories. I have used genograms to document and understand intergenerational patterns. It was incredible for me to discover that who “I” thought “I” was… actually represented the next seamless stitch. The role I played, the way I balanced the family system and then other human systems, predictable. This includes energy and territory I held vs. the territories I was not allowed to move within. 

The False Self is constructed within a much larger pattern.  

A wise person once shared with me that we don’t fall in love with people – we fall in love with patterns. We don’t choose jobs, teams and systems, we choose patterns. Choice is an elusive term until we become conscious.

The nature of any pattern is to repeat…until we notice. It has taken forces greater than myself and humbling experiences to stop slow down enough to notice and pivot. 

Reflection: What role do you often play in systems? What do you balance/counter-balance in a system? 

Kind regards,

Aman