“Why Me?” Asks Your Shadow

Ever since I moved out of state on April 28, 2020, my life has been nothing but humongous hassles, just one big thing after another. I was constantly asking “Why me?” On my trail walks, I did mantras, expressed gratitude, and practiced everything I knew to help me understand why.  And then, after nine months (!) it hit me:

Moving here, at this particular time (Pandemic) and at this particular place where I am alone, an alien in an alien state was a perfect situation for doing Shadow Work again. 

How did I know?

1. I no longer heard The Voice for guidance.  “Netflixing” Stargate SG-1 continues to answer my question, “Why me?” and I smile when I get it.

2.  I have not been in the Present Moment.  When I was taking my supplements and checking them off a typed spreadsheet while contemplating my Internet hassle, I couldn’t remember whether I had taken that pill or not.  Because I let my mind distract me from what I was doing, I either took no pill or took it twice.  I’ve been working on “Be here now” ever since.

3.  I needed a distraction from grieving the loss of my home and state where I lived for forty-four years.  The grieving isn’t over yet.  It’s getting better because each morning I say “This is where I live now, and there were many reasons why I left…”

My introduction to Shadow Work came in 1991 when I was a massage therapist and yoga teacher at the WorldSpring Center for Healing Arts in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.  There were twenty-four of us; I shared a room with one.  She introduced me to the concept and suggested buying the book she and her partner were using to do Shadow Work.

Shadow Work must be repeated just like anything else we do, like exercise and eating right.

How To do it?

Therapists and people who have been “on the path” for many years have collected skills and resources for being the best they can be–like Inner Child Work, Shadow Work, NLP, and more.  That said, if you are new to the concept of Shadow Work, try searching online for “How to do Shadow Work to find YouTube videos” and search for Books for “Shadow Work.”  Ask a librarian. Or try this:

And if you’re like me, consider this New York Times bestselling book, The Dark Side of the Light Chasers. That’s what I’ll be doing.

Till next time,

Please be kind to everyone you meet, for we all have our hidden sorrows. ~Tzaddi