I was recently teaching at David Lynch’s Master’s of Filmmaking Program in Fairfield, Iowa when someone asked me if I had ever heard of Shadow Work. I hadn’t, but apparently, that’s what I was doing with the graduating class of directing students in getting them to understand how to work with actors.
The groundbreaking therapist, Carl Jung, coined the phrase when he described it as energy patterns (or parts of ourselves), that as children we often disown as we develop. Becoming unconscious of certain parts of ourselves serve as coping mechanisms to move through life.
As adults, these are the parts of ourselves we try to deny and hide. And it’s an interesting conundrum because these are the essential parts we need as actors (and people) to transform. But they’re also so scary to us, so we often don’t expose them.
But if we understood the pure physics of what makes a shadow, maybe it wouldn’t seem so frightening. Simply, when a light source is obstructed by an object placed in front of it, the object throws off a shadow.
But this doesn’t mean there isn’t light. Light is all around the object. As soon as you move the object, the area is once again bathed in light and the shadow disappears.
This is analogous to our own shadows of self. At one level, we need them. They’re what make us different and unique and human. They’re the parts of ourselves we fear, but when we reveal them and share them through our work, not only are they cast into the light (where they no longer can exist), but they make us infinitely more interesting people and actors.
But we often have so many judgments around these parts of ourselves it’s hard for us to recognize our own light. We simply believe the shadows only.
But shadows aren’t real. Or, you could say, they’re relatively real.
We are light. We radiate it. Emanate it. Are it. But if I believe the shadow parts of myself, I’m temporarily obstructing myself from my own light. I live in my own shadow.
It doesn’t help that we live in a society that is constantly reminding us that we’re unlovable as we are. Lose that weight, get this haircut, wear these jeans, go to that gym, and then we’ll be perfect. Then people will like us. Then we’ll be worthy of a job.
But perfection isn’t in the outer. It’s in the essence of who we are that channels the light. But if we’re born with the assumption that we are insignificant or imperfect or flawed, we’re constantly missing the mark.
So basically our shadows reveal to us not only who we can be in totality, but who we actually are once we transcend them.
It’s the holiday season and Hanukkah is often referred to as the Festival of Lights. Maybe this season (regardless of how you celebrate), it’s important to remember that we too are extensions of it.
The light.
So maybe start sharing it. Your light. Not just at this time of year, but all year-round. Now that would be a real Festival of Lights.
*First published on Backstage