The shadow, the dark side, the side that each of us wants to keep hidden, is where the evil in each one of us lurks. It is the stream of thoughts we don't want to admit we have. It is the desire for revenge, the simmering anger, the regret, the various dark thoughts that dog each of us. It is always present, yet in our society it is never embraced.
In the movie, Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford and many others describe how the shadow is simply the other side of the coin, the other end of the teeter totter, etc. It is an inevitable consequence of light shining on our lives - that part where less (or no) light falls. Each of us has some dark corner, some part of our lives where little light falls. Maybe it is an event in the past - a trauma or conflict that haunts us to this day, simmering anger at the boss in a former job, etc. Maybe it is a regret - an old romance that never worked out, a failed class in college, etc. There is an endless number of shadows, plenty to go around for each of us.
In our culture, we try to hide the dark side of our personalities as if they were dirty laundry. We keep them suppressed, holding them under the surface. Yet, like trying to hold a beach ball under water, it takes energy to keep the darkness hidden. Eventually the ball gets away, surfacing. We see corresponding outbursts of anger, jealousy, greed, rage, depression, all of the darkness that mars our social fabric. How can we prevent this breakthrough negativity?
How can we address the rage that simmers beneath, out of sight. According to Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford, etc., the effort to suppress negativity merely makes it stronger. Called the law of polarity, it is the idea that when an influence is suppressed, it grows in energy. That which you oppose, you give energy to. Thus, the best way to resolve an element of darkness in life is to somehow embrace it, to forgive, resolve or otherwise heal the pain behind whatever that influence may be.
The movie further claims that most of the evil in the world can be traced to this same dark side, suppressed on a social level. An example might be the politician who crusades for family values, the sanctity of marriage, etc., but who turns out to have a mistress or number of gay lovers. Another example is the Catholic church, vehemently opposing homosexuality, abortion, contraception, etc., yet at the same time, rocked by scandals involving pedophilia among its own clergy. Again, the dark side lurking within the human subconscious grows stronger, the more it is suppressed - that which we oppose, we energize.
There are further extreme examples of damage done when the dark side runs amok, the ultimate case being that of Hitler, the poster child for the dark side. Yet the movie claims that each of us has a little of this within us. Nearly everyone of us cheats on our diet, sneaks an extra glance at a sexual image or a provocatively attractive body, perhaps even while with spouse and family. It is an inevitable part of the human condition. Only by embracing it can we resolve this paradox of evil showing up when we consciously want only to embrace the positive.
One person pointed out that the movie doesn't say much about how to actually embrace this shadow side, only that this embrace is necessary - the what, but not the how. So in itself, the film was probably insufficient - it raised more questions than it answered. Yet at the same time, isn't this the mark of a good piece of literature? To promote further search, growth and discovery?
To me, The Shadow Effect did a great job of inspiring further inquiry, further learning, further digging into the many opportunities for resolution, growth and healing. It didn't do much to answer those questions, but it did provide an impetus to ask them and to actively seek their answers. Personally, it helped me to shine the light a little bit deeper into my own shadows, a little more illumination of the dark side in each of us - what it called The Shadow Effect.
