Is shadow influencing our workchoice? I think people unconsciously choose for growth by choosing a certain job & company.
The positive aspects of shadow, admiration do attract someone to a job ...but I also think the negative aspects somehow do challenge someone. Most of them don't know this.
Ofcourse in a job you are utilising your talents ...and in shadow your gold is hidden to perform your job even better.
What do you think?
Do you have tips 4 reading? Comment? Anything is welcome!
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Hi Ed: "Makes sense to me that when someone tries something new, it comes across in an infantile way."
I can tell I did not explain this clearly, my apologies. What I meant was that some people (not a normative population, I am sure) will behave in idiotic ways so as to insure that the otherwise clever idea becomes malformed. I hate to give real life examples, but here goes: A business owner came up with a new software idea. Of all the logos and branding images he came up with, he chose a "baby Einstein" (ok, you may think that's not so bad), but then he chose "Dee de dee" as his company slogan. The combined effect of "Baby Einstein" with "Dee de dee" was, for want of a better description, a mentally retarded mascot. I apologize for stating it thusly...Why he would borrow lots of investor money, and then make a mentally retarded company mascot is simply incredulous. But of course, there must be a reason, and that reason is the shadow part of this individual doesn't really want to become successful. Outwardly he says he does, but he will always throw up obstacles (the literal meaning of the name "Satan," by the way!) to ensure he never achieves successively higher stages of social development.
This discussion is about how shadow influences our employment decisions, so I will try to connect this, if possible. This person had come from a prison background. He was smart, but sometimes suggested hair brained get rich quick schemes that got him into legal trouble. I think he truly could not see himself the way others saw him. This shadow is invisible to us, but others see it coming through clearly. That is why I recommended reflecting our ideas off of others as the enterprise progresses. The shadow may introduce elements into the idea that sabotage our ambitions, because the process of increasing sophistication of ego development (goal directed risk taking) is not the shadow's intent, but instead it prefers simplicity, if only for the sake of security.
Ofcourse a therapist is of influence and his bias and approach can affect his work. That's why a Jungian therapist has to follow therapy himself too. I don't think it is bad that the unconsciousness of a therapist, of me influences my work. I do attract certain people for instance with certain subjects to work on.
As long as I know it is something of me too it is okay. It is worse if there is inknown influence ...but probably the client will leave in the end and continues to have that particular problem .You can think of synchronicity ...it will come if the client is ready for it. He will meet a therapist who is able to help him.
I remember a story in dreams, memories, thoughts of Jung that he told that he was looking dow on a client without realising it. he got a dream to tell this to him, she on a high balcony waving down to Jung ...and he understood ..we are equal.
Nice! From that moment the therapy worked better!
Great question, great topic. In my case, I think that shadow is negatively impacting my work choice, that on the one hand I have dreams and aspirations, but on the other hand I sabotage my own ambitions with shadow-directed compromises.
Bro. Harmonius
Interesting to understand how you sabotage your own ambitions. Perhaps there is a way to utilise this saboteur instead of letting it use you ...
The big question is how?
One of my thoughts is to learn to be self-reflective, and recognize when we are sabotaging our growth. I have started to look at this when I manifest my actions. Am I accessorizing my enterprises with immature ideas, the kind I might have dreamed up during my adolescence? Maybe as an idea comes out of my mouth, I can examine it objectively and consider doing exactly the opposite. I have to credit George Costanza from the Seinfeld show for this idea. It comes from the episode where he thought that since everything he did was a failure, he should do the exact opposite of what he normally does.
This sounds a little corny, but in the last couple of years I have actually witnessed other people, employers and business owners coming up with really novel ideas, but for some reason when trying to put flesh on their ideas they would resort to infantile and undignified actions that tortured their initial creative idea. In such cases, maybe it helps to have that trusted dyad, where the partner can straighten our collar and help us work methodically rather than haphazardly after the idea is conceived.
It takes us back to the shadow in the sense that we are unaware of that negative side of us that influences us in ways we would not have, if only we were able to be somebody outside of ourselves watching and reporting on us as we appear to them. It is the "success thermostat" that some of us have set low as a defense against failure, and affects our expectations such that by failing in minor ways early in the life cycle of the enterprise, we protect against the possibility of major failure later in the course of the enterprise. The ego is hopeful, and anxious for success, but the shadow is defensive against inevitable failure.
Well, that's my two cents! The question is a very practical application of theory.
Makes sense to me that when someone tries something new, it comes across in an infantile way. After all, the new way is in its infancy as well. As to the workings of the shadow, I'm curious if the shadow can be so repressed that even failure of expression takes a back seat to expression at all costs. It would still come across immaturely in that the shadow expression has not had a chance to mature in its expression. And, actually, some of the shadow content can only be expressed as infantile in that this was when it was initially locked away or this is the very nature of that aspect of the shadow. (I think.)
My experience is that the shadow often keeps me from leaving one workplace to enter the unknown of a new job. It gets covered up by words like loyalty, quitter, weak willed, martyr.
Hi Bonnie,
It is much better ...the strength is in using images (archetypes). An image tells more than 1000 words. A client chooses the archetypes he likes, in this way I can ask the right questions. It is used for diagnoses, coaching, therapy and job assesments.
I had never heard of CADT: Looking it up now. One site claims it's an extension of the MBTI. Could be interesting: thanks for mentioning it.
Meanwhile, I still think even if its true that we default to certain ways of being in the world due to a personality/soul typology, we can still transcend the unhealthy tendencies and pathologies through inner work and awareness. In that case, free choice still holds true...
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