그림자 수용하기: 원치 않는 특성을 통합하여 온전하게 만들기

### 그림자 수용하기: 자기 수용과 성장을 위한 억압된 특성 통합하기
* 😈 스위스의 정신과 의사 칼 융은 **억압된 특성이 무의식 속에 그림자로 나타난다**며, 이러한 원치 않는 특성을 인식하고 포용하는 것이 중요하다고 말했습니다.
* 🎭 우리가 쓰는 가면은 종종 우리의 그림자를 숨기고, **억압은 결국 그 그림자가 우리에게 되돌아오게 합니다.**
* 👤 철학자 앨런 와츠는 좋은 면과 나쁜 면을 모두 아우르는 인간 본연의 **'환원 불가능한 난폭함의 요소'**를 강조했습니다.
* 🚫 부정과 투사는 그림자에 저항하는 일반적인 방법이지만, **파괴적인 길과 잘못된 자기 표현**으로 이어질 수 있습니다.
* 🔦 그림자의 통합은 인식에서 시작하여 억압된 특성을 발견하는 도구로 **투영을 사용**하고 무의식을 의식화하는 것을 포함합니다.
* 🌌 "우리 자신의 일부인 그림자는 항상 변화하는 살아있는 유기체와 같으며, 그 중 일부는 **빛을 본 적이 없습니다**. 따라서 이를 통합하는 것은 **평생에 걸친 과정**입니다."
* 🌓 그림자를 포용하고 두려움, 공격성, 창의성과 같은 측면을 통합함으로써 우리는 **자기 수용을 달성**하고 완전한 인간이 된다는 것이 무엇을 의미하는지 경험할 수 있습니다.

그림자를 인식하고 포용하며 그 특성을 통합하는 것은 사회적 압력에도 불구하고 완전하고 인간적인 존재가 되기 위해 매우 중요합니다.

Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung noticed that the traits we repress in ourselves are cast into the unconscious. The more we repress, the more we cultivate an unconscious entity called The Shadow. These unwanted characteristics may be hidden behind the masks we wear; as long as they are repressed, they will get back at us eventually. That’s why it’s important to recognize our shadow and to embrace it. Philosopher Alan Watts spoke of what he called the ‘element of irreducible rascality’, which is inherently part of ‘being human’. We are both the good and the bad, the angel and the devil, the reason and the passions. All these aspects make a complete human being. Unfortunately, we often deal with this rascality in an unhealthy way: by repression. Throughout the ages, many different ideologies erupted that celebrated one set of characteristics and condemned another. At first glance, it seems a good thing to banish the undesirable, in an effort to transform

humanity into something more ‘desirable’, whatever that may be. We can try hard to be purely good, but the problem with this pursuit is that it’s impossible to get rid of something that’s inherently part of us. In psychology, one often speaks about self-improvement, but also about self-acceptance. And that to become better people, we should first accept ourselves. So, how can we improve if we partly repress who we are? Shouldn’t self-acceptance be the acceptance of everything, including our undesirable aspects? Only through this acceptance, we’re able to work with these aspects and integrate them into our daily lives. That’s why it’s important to embrace the fact that we’ve repressed certain traits within ourselves, instead of denying their existence. Not just evil traits, but also traits like creativity, certain interests, or sexual preferences can end up in the shadow. Most likely, the repression of those tendencies happens because the environment considers

them unconventional and inappropriate. Now, humans can react to the shadow by denial
and projection. These are forms of resistance, which I’ll
talk about individually. Let’s start with denial. The denial of our shadow could lead us to
a destructive path. Some people simply deny that they possess
negative traits, or heavily reductionize their undesirable characteristics. But doing so is basically an act to betrayal:
not only to oneself but to the environment as well. Me, for example, I’m aware that I’ve got
some pretty dark sides in me, which are hidden behind the persona. Especially as a YouTuber that talks about
spiritual topics, I could wear the mask of being all love and light, and a near-perfect
human being, but then I would be nothing more than a fraud. There is evil in me, that has come out in
the past several times, in ways I regret. When the shadow takes over, and we commit
evil deeds, we tend to blame the environment

or say “I wasn't myself”, or, in a religious
context, we might put the blame on the devil for possessing us. The truth is that nothing can erupt in us
if the seed isn’t already present. The more we deny these darker sides, the denser
the shadow becomes. That’s why, and I paraphrase Alan Watts
here, the goodie-goodies are often the biggest troublemakers. In many cases, these are extremists, waging
ideological wars, forcing their vision of “goodness” upon others. Goodness is just a construct and does not
equal humaneness. Humaneness consists of what we consider as
good, as well as what we consider as bad. And there can only be good when there’s
bad. Because without bad, what's the basis for
calling something good? Thus, being humane means being the complete
package, including all its ugliness. (2) Projection A significant manifestation of the shadow
is called projection.

We recognize in others what we repress in
ourselves. This reaction is quite logical because traits
we dislike in ourselves, we automatically dislike in others. We can see a strong example of projection
in the retired colonel Frank Fitts, a character in the movie American Beauty (spoiler alert). Fitts expresses himself as strongly homophobic
and is devastated when he suspects his son to have an affair with the neighbor, a man
named Lester Burnham. He reacts aggressively towards his son by
beating him up and telling him that he’d rather want him to be dead than a homosexual. Later in the movie, it turns out that he has
repressed his own homosexuality his whole life (end spoiler). Instead of resisting the shadow, we can also
do an attempt to acknowledge it so we can integrate it into our daily lives in a healthy
way. Integration of unwanted traits seems to be
odd, but it’s a way to mitigate their harmful

elements, and to cultivate the positive aspects
that hide in the shadow, like creativity. This process of integration starts with awareness. Projection, for example, is actually a great
opportunity to discover the things we repress, by becoming mindful of our own reactions towards
other people’s characteristics, which is a direct manifestation of the shadow. Thus, our projections can be a guiding light
for making the unconscious conscious. I quote: If you imagine someone who is brave enough
to withdraw all these projections, then you get an individual who is conscious of a pretty
thick shadow. Such a man has saddled himself with new problems
and conflicts. He has become a serious problem to himself,
as he is now unable to say that they do this or that, they are wrong, and they must be
fought against. End quote. The shadow speaks to us in many ways. Carl Jung suggested other methods like active
imagination and dream analysis, in order to make sense out of the symbolic language in
which the unconscious tries to speak to us.

Again, awareness is the key here. The integration of the shadow is a lifelong
process since we probably can't reveal the shadow overnight. By making the unconscious conscious, the first
step towards integration is already made: we have let go of our projections, and see
what’s lingering in the dark. Yes, the sight will be ugly, but we can't
work with something that we cannot see. I quote: No doubt this also sounds very simple. In reality, however, the acceptance of the
shadow-side of human nature verges on the impossible. Consider for a moment what it means to grant
the right of existence to what is unreasonable, senseless, and evil! Yet it is just this that the modern man insists
upon. He wants to live with every side of himself—to
know what he is. End quote. The shadow, being part of ourselves, is like
a living organism that’s always in flux, and some of it has never seen the light of
the day.

Thus, integrating it is a lifelong process. We can only illuminate parts of it, and as
soon as we become aware of these parts, we can integrate or transmute them. Once we expose our fears, we can let them
guide us towards bravery. Once we see our aggression, we can channel
it into achievement. Once we are confronted with our creativity,
we can incorporate it into our daily lives. From a Jungian perspective, let’s not try
to be the light while simultaneously rejecting the darkness. Instead, let's stand between the darkness
and the light, without judgment, so we can experience what it's like to be fully human. Thank you for watching.

Embrace The Darkness (Carl Jung & The Shadow)

Einzelgänger

그림자 수용하기: 자기 수용의 중요성

칼 융은 억압된 특성이 무의식의 그림자를 형성하며, 이를 인식하고 포용해야 한다고 주장했습니다.

앨런 와츠도 선과 악을 포함한 인간 본성에 내재된 이중성을 강조했습니다.

바람직하지 않은 특성을 억압하는 것은 쓸데없는 일이며, 자기 수용은 개인의 성장과 우리 자신의 모든 측면을 통합하는 데 매우 중요합니다.

그림자와 마주하기: 부정과 투사

어두운 면의 존재를 부정하면 파괴적인 행동과 잘못된 자아상으로 이어질 수 있습니다.

어두운 면을 억압하면 더 강해질 뿐이므로 개인의 진정성과 성장을 위해서는 어두운 면을 포용하는 것이 중요합니다.

투사는 자신의 바람직하지 않은 특성을 다른 사람에게 돌리고 책임을 회피하는 그림자의 핵심적인 표현입니다.

영화 '아메리칸 뷰티'의 프랭크 피츠 대령의 캐릭터에서 볼 수 있듯이 사람들은 종종 자신이 억압하는 것을 다른 사람에게서 싫어하는 경우가 많습니다.

이러한 억압된 특성을 통합하면 창의력을 발휘하는 등 긍정적인 효과를 얻을 수 있습니다.

이러한 통합 과정에서 타인에 대한 우리 자신의 반응을 인식하는 것은 무의식을 의식화하는 데 중요한 역할을 합니다.

칼 융은 무의식의 언어를 이해하기 위해 적극적인 상상력과 꿈 분석과 같은 방법을 제안했습니다.

섀도 통합: 평생에 걸친 프로세스

그림자의 통합은 무의식을 의식화하고 투사를 버려야 하는 평생의 과정입니다.

이 과정에는 인간 본성의 불합리하고 사악한 부분을 받아들여 자신을 진정으로 아는 것이 포함됩니다.

그림자를 통합하면 두려움을 용기로, 공격성을 성취로, 창의성을 일상으로 전환하여 인간으로서의 완전한 경험을 할 수 있습니다.