Thread by @BillReagan16

Good People ~

We rage at the indignities foisted upon us by power seeking, image protecting cult leaders who clearly know not what critical thinking or introspection means - and they never will.

We hope the pendulum swings the other way, but is that really what is needed?

1/n

2/n

If we continue to wish the pendulum to swing, it will, but you may not like where it goes.

What is needed is for the pendulum to stop.

This is not to say that there can't be activists on either side.

But, I am saying as long as we dicotomize, we will never find peace.

3/n

Was it Robert Benchley who once said: There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who believe there are two kinds, and those who don't.

Dicotomies can help in bringing to light where we stand a particular subject or thought.

But they are made to be reconciled.

4?/n

E.g., Why does history repeat itself? Because we fail to recognize that the problems we see in others is to a degree something we find in us. We repress the problem, it becomes part of our Shadow.

There it waits.

5/n

Now for a bit of fun:

6/n

And this poem by Robert Louis Stevenson was read to us by our mom.

poetryfoundation.org/poems/43196/my…

7/n

After that short interlude, now we ask:

What is the Shadow?

It is a word describing emotions we tuck away in our brains because we don't want to deal with them.

It exists in every one, and in society.

There is no one place in the brain for it, as far as we know.

8/n

An example: You have a fight with your partner, and at some point one, or both, shouts out, "You make me so mad!!"

In reality, the madness, the anger, are already in you. The situation brought it up to the surface.

But, we should not blame the other person. Bad form.

9/n

Instead, thank the person for bringing it up in us.

This is an excellent time to examine what the anger is about: work on it so it will not rear its ugly head again.

The same for happy, but usually we repress the ugly side of ourselves and happy is usually not repressed.

10/n
You:
19:30
12 hour day
Ready to meet friends at sports bar.

Boss:
Here is the Witles contract for final edit.
Need by 08:00 for meeting.

You:
Annoyance turns to rage.
But I need to keep my job.
"Sure boss. No problem."

Rage repressed, but it doesn't disappear.

11/n

Repression is a word used to describe our attempts to cope with emotional situations. With it, we try to forget emotions we don't want to deal with.

People with PTSD are traumatized to the point that coping skills break down. They can not forget the emotional experience.

12/n

There are other emotions we may try to forget such as fear, disgust, envy, sadness, and so on.

Additionally, we also may suppress emotions such as happiness and satisfaction. Curious behavior, eh?

All this and more may be parts of the Shadow.

13/n

In addition to the individual Shadow, there is a Shadow at the group/national level in which we all participate.

We may rage, rightly so, at one group for their views and actions. But what in us allowed that group to become extreme? Could we have intervened sooner?

14/n

The answer to the question must wait for another time. But now, a little bit more about Shadow.

Our brains are very interesting in one important aspect, and that is a matter of needing psychological balance. Sort of a yin/yang thing.

15/n

If mentally we go too far, e.g., being too angry, conscience steps in and says, "Whoa! Back down." Or at least it should.

There are people with no conscience, and some of them whip others into a frenzy that suppresses it. These are the fanatics of the world.