The average person spends most of their day in operating from various states of unconsciousness. We sometimes call it autopilot, our bodies are going through the motions because the motions are predictable. Our minds are not fully conscious, but may instead be checked out as our bodies and mouths operate from a trance state. Sometimes we are simply distracted/preoccupied by our thoughts and other times it is something less innocuous, like trauma.

We can also check out when something activates in us a program or conditioned response. For example, you make a mistake at work and before you even fully take it in, you try to hide it or blame someone else, because when you were growing up those in authority (parents or teachers) allowed no room for mistakes. These unconscious states, where we are running a programmed response that is not serving our best interests, are known collectively as our shadow.

Each of us has a shadow, because where there is light, there is also dark. Emotional maturity, fulfillment, liking ourselves, and healthy relationships require us to be willing to look at those dark places and work on our shadows.

The uncertainty of these past few years is activating the shadow in so many, if not all, of us. Living in close quarters or living alone, our restrictive conditions are ripe with opportunities to be triggered into behaviors and reactions that do not serve us very well.