Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature

by Connie Zweig

The only part of this complex collage that you were routinely aware of was the parts of your original being that were still intact and certain aspects of your false self. Together these elements formed your “personality,” the way you would describe yourself to others. Your lost self was almost totally outside your awareness; you had severed nearly all connections with these repressed parts of your being. Your disowned self, the negative parts of your false self, hovered just below your level of awareness and was constantly threatening to emerge. To keep it hidden, you had to deny it actively or project it onto others: “I am not self-centered,” you would say with great energy. Or “What do you mean, I’m lazy? You’re lazy.”