Why is there a never ending supply of shadow?

You and I watch out for the parts of ourselves that are lurking in the shadows. We step up to these parts and examine their beliefs. We seem to be making progress, then turnaround and there's a whole new slew of them hiding behind bushes in the dark.

Where did they come from?

Why didn't we see them before?

Will they never end?

Our Shadow Is Our Wholeness

Why in the world does all this crap show up after we make a big step forward into the light? I mean, we should be rewarded with positive experiences, right? If we move toward God then we should have more Godly experiences. Wrong! That's not how it works. More light means more shadow. More light means more awareness and more awareness means we can see more of the dirt that's always been there. More light requires an increased capacity to hold the light. That means the places where we act small come to the surface to be reexamined for their beliefs. If the beliefs hold back the light then one or the other must go.

New version, new issues

The ego is like an operating system in a computer. It has different versions. Each version has different capacities and different issues associated with it. When a new version is released, it comes out first in beta form because there are a lot of issues still associated with it. These issues are like shadows. As people use the version, the issues are revealed and programers solve the issues. This is similar to when we move forward into more light, shadows are revealed and we must solve the issues of those shadows. However, when a new version comes out, with it comes a whole new set of capacities and issues. The new version is touted to be able to do more but it also has a whole set of problems related to this capacity. New version, new issues. New light, new shadows.

Shadow Techniques

My wife has been doing a method of shadow work that's called Beholding. It consists of centering yourself in your heart and calling forth from your inner being that part of yourself that stands in the shadows. Ask this part to stand before you. Allow it to exist. Don't even talk to it yet. Just give it loving space to exist in it's own right, unfettered by the judgements of you and the world. It will reveal itself.

I do what I call project assisting. One the people I assist is a woman who carries on the work of her father, Hal Stone. This work is called Voice Dialogue. In this method the primary and corresponding disowned parts of our inner being are identified. We then enter into discussion with these selves. This process develops the muscle of what is called the Aware Ego, contributing to the wholeness and choice in our lives.

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Conclusion

The more we grow the more there is of us to grow. What's important to consider is that there's no static  "I". The self keeps changing with our evolution and every change brings a whole new set of responsibilities and with it, a whole new cast of shadow characters invested in remaining the same.

How do your make relationship with your Shadow?