Excessive Admiration and the Positive Shadow

[Plenum]

I'd like to write here about the phenomena of 'Excessive Admiration'.  I think Admiration is fine and good, and it often represents qualities that we ourselves would aspire to, and hope to reach one day.  We all have goals when it comes to aspects of love, light, unity, and joy - to steal a bit of Ra there.

But I think the Shadow can possibly come into play here.  The Shadow represents aspects of ourselves that we have experienced, and then subsequently denied, for whatever reason.  Normally the Shadow applies to negative traits - an unwillingness to acknowledge some of the unloving and more violent things that we have done/experienced in our lives.  The Negative Shadow is definitely in play.

For positive seekers, however, there is also the phenomena of the Positive Shadow which deserves some attention.  For individuals who have a low self-esteem, or haven't succeeded much in their lives according to social and personal standards, one can adopt an attitude towards the self that is less than admiring.  Mistakes are remembered long past their usefulness as a learning tool for adjusting behaviour, and one is beating oneself up over things long past and unchangeable.

One of the reasons for this, I think, is that the Positive Shadow represents things that we think are unattainable or unexpressible in ourselves.  Positive traits that are somehow beyond us.  So there can be admiration for individuals like Carla who served like no other - and yet, excessive admiration of those traits somehow is a denial that we can attain or experience some aspect of that in ourselves.

Some of the things I believe I have in my own Positive Shadow

* not creative enough
* not spontaneous enough

Which in turn places me in a situation of awe and wonder when I experience other people who are truly creative and spontaneous.

- -

I also think as part of our journey as awakening spiritual beings is that we come more and more to accept and integrate aspects in our Positive Shadow.  Much like we start to come face-to-face with things in our Negative Shadow.  That which is denied, comes to be re-integrated as we start to see the completeness in the Self.

I can see how this has affected others in their own journey, and it's a great thing to witness

[Diana]

I agree. One common example in general is parents who admire what their children achieve, to the point that they live through them, and because they felt they didn't achieve enough. This manifests in many degrees of excess. 

Many people enjoy being admired, but excessive admiration is not enjoyable and can be (unconscious) energetic vampirism for lack of a better phrase. 

[AnthroHeart]

I have excessive admiration for Ra and other nonphysical beings.

[Matt1]

The same can be said about Guru style people who people worship rather than simply see them as human beings who have limits and flaws like any one else but never the less developed their personality to the point of being able to channel a spark of the magical personality.

I believe that people who fall in these types of traps are probably doing so out of an sub consciousness fear of not wanting to become that for themselves.

[BlatzAdict]

Nothing is above, nothing is below. Everything is here.

[Plenum]

Gemini's Question was split here.

[Aion]

I just think I'm super rad.

[Sabou]

Missed this post, but it is very relevant to what I have been thinking about lately.

I asked in my mind yesterday about why so and so makes me uneasy/nervous, yet I admire them - and I immediately got the response "I need to come to terms with aspects of them that I think I am lacking within myself" or in other words, qualities that I need to nurture/pay attention to and develop in myself. I think that if I am able to come to terms with or nurture these qualities in myself then there would be no contrast between myself and the other to hold this feeling of unease. I definitely see what you describe as the positive shadow at play in these interactions.

[Sabou]

I think work with this "positive shadow" is what I need to focus on currently. Along with all the other things....

[tamaryn]

Excessively disrespectful, slandering mind. ?? Anyone?