But I do not think that is true.

We are not born with this.

The Shadow, or at least my shadow, was created through interaction with society. And originally it was simply a dumping ground for characteristics society did not accept.

To be honest, I think most people are fine just working around those unwanted aspects of themselves. And understand the benefits of being a functioning and perhaps even respected member of society.
An understanding of what’s at stake, if they would show all of themselves instead of the polished version.

On a side note, I don’t think the exchange itself is unfair. It’s that the exchange stays implicit.
We were all forced into this agreement, and with that paid the price of creating a shadow, of all that was never welcome.

All a lengthy way to say: I know I’m lucky.

Lucky to no longer go along with this hidden process of suppression.
And lucky to take the time to integrate this darker side, and on repeat, judging by the number of older blog posts dedicated to this.

And yet somehow, despite apparently having gone through this on a regular basis, it all feels so vibrant this time! As if I finally get it.

 “It” is an advertisement I saw years ago: Disappear for 6 weeks and come back a dark femme

I just saw the screenshot, but remembered the text as the more old fashioned term; To return, a Dark Femme.

So I just started my new iteration of:
Disappear for 6 weeks and return a Dark Femme

What’s interesting is that Google gives an AI answer right now, practically giving you a blueprint for it.
Years ago, it was a paid program, I saw an advertisement for.

If AI ever goes down for 6 weeks, we now know how they’ll come back!

How they will, Return.

.~Lauren
An unexamined life is not worth living