{"id":571852,"date":"2024-07-12T13:39:35","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T11:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/estherjacobs.info\/?p=571852"},"modified":"2025-03-20T15:31:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T14:31:38","slug":"shadow-work-inspiration-shot-july-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estherjacobs.info\/en\/blog\/shadow-work-inspiration-shot-july-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Shadow work – Inspiration shot July 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shadow work<\/h1>\n

Inspiration shot July 2024<\/h3>\n<\/div>
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Perhaps you are looking for shade under the sun during your vacation, perhaps you are confronted with your own dark sides now that the summer does not seem to be taking off in many places. Nowadays I actively seek out my own dark sides, during tantra retreats. And I do not avoid them in ‘normal life’ either.<\/p>\n

Shadow work is a type of self-development in which we focus on our dark sides: characteristics or parts of ourselves that we normally prefer not to face or share with others. Things that irritate you in others, your so-called ‘triggers’ are often indications of where your own ‘shadow’ is.<\/p>\n

Actively seeking out your shadow, exposing it and integrating it, is called shadow work. It is not therapy. So it is not a ‘problem’ that needs to be solved, it is discovering a part of you where some more development can be achieved. You get to know yourself even better by looking at your contradictions. In this inspiration shot I will go into this a little deeper. Dive into the dark with me, if you dare?<\/p>\n<\/div>

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I am a ‘trickster’<\/h2>\n<\/div>

Let me just come clean right away. One morning during the\u00a0ISTA<\/a>\u00a0tantra retreat in Devon where I was two weeks ago, someone asked me for my triggers. My answer came quickly and without thinking: injustice and lying. I immediately thought of my ex, who turned out to have an affair and kept lying about it. That day the facilitator explained that he wanted to reveal his dark side and then continued very openly \u2018I am a liar and a cheater\u2019. He told us that he regularly cheats on his girlfriend and lies to her about it. Wow, someone who comes clean about it! I suddenly felt a huge wave of emotions go through me. This affected me deeply and unexpectedly.<\/p>\n

Later that day, however, I realized that this was also a dark side of myself. I can also talk, reason and justify anything, even if it is wrong, and I do so regularly… I don’t lie to people<\/em>, but within ‘the system’<\/em> I allow myself certain liberties, which I can of course ‘justify’ perfectly well. That’s how I discovered a dark side of myself. The word \u2018trickster\u2019 came to mind. I looked it up: \u2018Tricksters break fixed patterns and stimulate creative solutions. To do this, they break the rules and status quo’. Voil\u00e0, this is me!<\/p>\n

What about you? Who are you really?<\/p>\n<\/div>

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The sweet pain of comparing<\/h2>\n<\/div>

Comparing yourself to others is not the best strategy. Yet we all do it, unconsciously. When I was in Puglia at the end of June to go to the notary, I noticed that my olive trees seemed to be doing a little better than those of my neighbours. Their trees are more affected by the deadly Xylella bacteria and are often already 1\/3 dried out, while mine are doing relatively well, with at most a few dry branches. In a way I am happy about that: it means that I made the right decision by hiring an expensive tree doctor and taking other measures. The reality is: I am happy with the situation, because I see the result, precisely because the trees of the neighbours are doing worse\u2026 On the other hand, my heart cries. Those poor trees! What is Puglia without trees? That horrible disease… It is a very mixed feeling.<\/p>\n

Just before I left again, I took this photo from my new swimming pool. You can see my tiny house, the trullo in the background and one of my beautiful trees, in all its glory. My TinyTrullo<\/a>\u00a0paradise has been rented out all summer, but there are still a few openings:\u00a0check more photos and availability on Airbnb.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Dilemmas<\/h2>\n<\/div>

In a year I will ‘retire’. It is getting closer and closer. I am looking forward to more\u00a0being<\/em>\u00a0and less\u00a0doing<\/em>, but on the other hand creates this decision also uncertainty. It is not like I have enough money to live on, without working. How am I going to survive financially? I try not to give in to the uncertainty, but focus on trust that there will always be a solution. First I have to implement this decision – which feels very good deep down. Then we will see.<\/p>\n

Just after my birthday, I was in the enormous theatre that I rented for the theatre show next year. I felt excitement. But also doubt: will I be able to fill the theatre? And when I calculated the costs (well, I should have done that much earlier of course), I saw that even if it is completely full, I will only just break even.<\/p>\n

And the show is in Dutch, while many foreign friends also want to come…\u00a0I made another \u2018bold decision\u2019: I am going to offer a live stream, so that anyone, wherever they are in the world, can attend the live show. And – trusting that AI will be up to the challenge in a year – I promise everyone to be able to listen to the live show in English, and probably also Spanish and Italian… So: you can now also get an online ticket in your own language!<\/p>\n<\/div>

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THEATER SHOW INFO<\/span><\/a><\/div>
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