Tag: The Shadow Affect

• “This Little Light of Mine…”

  Debbie Ford in “The Shadow Affect” is talking about embracing your Light Shadow.

   

  She had gone to see Marianne Williamson speak…

   

  "… as I sat in the audience I was stunned.  I watched as Marianne boldly called people to a higher version of themselves and the world.  I heard her unabashedly implore us to step out of the smallness of your own ego-centered lives and into the grandness of serving as part of a divine mission.  Although I was listening intently to the words she spoke, I was more overcome by her presence.  I left there completely in love with Marianne Williamson.

   

  I returned to my apartment, intent to discover the parts of myself that I so clearly saw in her.  I loved that she had the courage to speak the truth, even if it meant shocking people in order to wake them up.  Also I admired the way she was able to clearly articulate a difficult message, speaking with such eloquence that her words penetrated into people's minds and hearts.  I was enamored with the depth of concern she seemed to feel for humanity and the sense that she was dedicated to something larger than just her individual life.  I also envied her beauty, her sense of style and her willingness to look like a hot, sexy woman and not one of the many stereotypical frumpy spiritual teachers. She took to the stage looking gorgeous and sophisticated, yet her holiness came through loud and clear.

   

  As a dedicated student of projection, I looked beyond her behaviors and tried to discover the underlying characteristics that gave rise to those behaviors.  I asked myself, “What kind of person is able to just be herself on stage?”  Clearly, an authentic person.  “What kind of person would care so deeply for the rest of the world?”  A selfless person.  “What is the quality that allows Marianne to speak up, to tell the truth even when it is shocking or scary?”  I heard very clearly – a bold person.

   

  I looked at my list of qualities, which read, “Bold, Authentic, and Selfless.”  None of them were characteristics that I owned or acknowledged within myself.  Those who know me now may find this hard to believe, but back then I was not somebody who told it like it is.  Afraid of losing approval of those I loved, I skirted around issues and lacked the self-confidence to even stand in front of a room without shaking. I was more concerned with looking good that I was with saying something that would change people’s lives.  I was more concerned with saying it nicely than being straight or authentic.  Yet I know that if I saw strengths in Marianne, the potential for them must exist also within me.

   

  I began practicing being more authentic with people and challenging myself to speak up even when I wanted to be silent….”  Debbie Ford

   

  How fun to see our potentials in others, to see what we are lacking within ourselves, to admire truth and authenticity and being comfortable in our own lives and selves.

   

  Watch for your Light Shadow, for the part of you that has yet to shine!

   

  “This Little Light of mine, I going to let it shine….”

   
  

   

   

  May 19, 2010

  aspire, Debbie Ford, goal, hero, light, Marianne Williamson, potential, reaching, The Shadow Affect

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• Spotting Ourselves

  I am reading The Shadow Affect written by Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford and Marianne Williamson. 

   

  Below is from Debbie Ford’s section.

   

  “Our projections usually shock us.  When we are judging another, we never really think we are talking about ourselves.  But once we understand our finger pointing, we can start to untangle ourselves from our perceptions and fierce judgment of others.  We must remember the old saying, ‘You spot it, you got it.’

   

  The parts of ourselves we try to avoid may be hidden from our view, but they exist as part of our energy field regardless.  The behaviors and feelings we are not at peace with will always find a screen to project themselves on, and we can be sure this is happening when we feel an emotional charge in the presence of someone else.  Imagine having a hundred different electrical outlets on your chest.  Each outlet represents a different quality.  The qualities you acknowledge and embrace have cover plates over them. They are safe- no electricity runs through them.  But the qualities you’re not okay with, the ones you have not yet owned, do have a charge.  So when other’s come along and reflect back to you an image of a self you don’t want to be, you become reactive…

   

  Ken Wilber makes a great distinction.  He says, if a person or thing in the environment informs us, if we receive what is happening as information or a point of interest, we probably aren’t projecting.  If it affects us, if we’re pointing our finger in judgment, if we’re plugged in, chances are we are a victim of our own projections.”  Debbie Ford

   

  This explains to me the difference between being informed in my environment and being affected.

   

  And if someone gets my goat so to speak it is because there is an inlet into a part of me that I am not aware of. 

   

  Interesting to note, that those who get a rise out of us, we are spotting ourselves!

   

   

  May 16, 2010

  Debbie Ford, Deepak Chopra, Ken Wilber, Marianne Williamson, The Shadow Affect

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