What are you afraid of?

I’ve been reading a little today, trying to make sense of recent loss and find a center for myself.  The week will be helpful since I am on staycation from hell and I can just relax without any added stress.  I do this alone because it’s familiar territory for me, not because I can’t reach out to those who could and most certainly would help me.  I find that I am stronger for it, this retreating to the shadows.

I have been perusing groups and the feeds on the social media  and one posting caught my attention.  Mostly because of the subject matter.  It reads as follows:

Never be dependent upon anyone
in this world
Because even your own shadow leaves you

when you are in darkness.

I do not agree with this statement exactly.  while I am a true advocate for independence, sometimes one can go overboard in being stubborn and not allowing others to help.  I am guilty of that sometimes myself.  I have done so much on my own because of necessity or even because of these pesky control issues I have that I have trouble allowing others to join in and help when and where they can without waiting for the other shoe to drop, i.e. “what do they want in return”.  But its the part about the shadow that I totally disagree with.  Your shadow is a part of you so how then could it disappear?  For myself and those who often seek the darkness to seek solace, healing and respite,  our shadow is often wrapped around us like a cloak keeping us warmed, protected and shielded from those who would still seek us out for whatever reason.  My curiosity is piqued when people have a real aversion to all things shadows.  What are they afraid of?  I’ve seen more things that can freak some the fuck out, and yet most of those have been out in the open and in the light.  Maybe its because they have some deep rooted fear of the dark and all things that go bump in the night that they cannot get past.  Or perhaps its their preconceived idea of good and evil, good=light, evil =dark.  For whatever reason, if one begins speaking of shadow world, or beings found there, you invariably get those sideways glances as well as a distancing from people.  Maybe its because they have not experienced as myself and others have that they do not feel the warmth there.  Just because one is alone, does not mean that one is always lonely.  Sometimes that aloneness is required to find balance, seek instruction from those who guide us or just escape the chaotic mess of the mundane.  So for those who will try almost anything to stay out of the shadow…I say..c’mon in , you will never know what you may find.  What are you afraid of?