“OUR SHADOW MASK

“Uncovering the parts of ourselves that we learned to repress is the key to understanding why we enjoy freedom in some areas of our life and behave like a robot in others.

It is fear that convinces us to wear one of an infinite number of masks to hide behind and to construct a persona—a costume, so to speak—to conceal all of who we really are. We work tirelessly to create an outer façade, so that no one will find out about our dark thoughts, desires, impulses, and history.

It is the shadow of our past that drove us to create the face—the mask—that we show the world. Will we be a people pleaser, or will we seek relief from the world by being isolated, distant, and alone? Will we work tirelessly to be perceived as an overachiever, or will we be content to lie in front of the TV or spend hours searching Internet gossip sites? Our persona was not created by accident; it was created in order to camouflage the parts of ourselves we deemed the most undesirable and to overcompensate for what we believe to be our deepest flaws.

“This false self is charged with one mission only: to hide all of the unwanted and unacceptable parts of ourselves. If we were wounded from having been raised by emotionally unpredictable parents, we may work very hard to portray an image that we are calm and in control. If we had a learning disability growing up, we might create a warm, overly loving personality, so others won’t notice what we perceive to be our handicap.”

Excerpt From: Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson & Debbie Ford. “The Shadow Effect.”

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Excerpt From: Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson & Debbie Ford. “The Shadow