“The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth” - Jean Cocteau
One of my favorite things about poetry (and fiction) is it’s a lot like acting. You can create a narrator who says what you would never say in real life, or someone who goes back in time and changes the course of their own history. You get to use real emotions, pieces of memories, but change any and everything you want to make it more dramatic, more exciting, more painful, more intense, or just more satisfying in the mouth.
Chiaroscuro
Before I became a writer, I was a visual artist. While I work in many styles, I have a particular love for black and white photography and charcoal drawing, both of which deal primarily in light and shadow, or Chiaroscuro.
In order to create the illusion of a three-dimensional form, both light and shadow must be tended to in equal measure. In drawing or painting, an artist might even start with a brown or grey paper tone and add elements of white and black to the image in order to create this desired effect; the darker the shadows, the brighter the lights appear.
Art, poetry, and good spiritual practices are all areas that must tend to light and shadow in equal measures.
The concept of The Shadow self has been around for as long as we’ve had myths, but psychologist Carl Jung helped popularized the idea in the 1950's.
"Jung proposed that at a young age, as we begin to develop a conscious ego and sense of self, two interdependent psychological systems begin to form: the persona, and the shadow. The Persona is the socially acceptable personality mask we wear to ensure we attain a sense of belonging, smooth relations with others, and success in the social world. While the shadow is the dark and unconscious side of the conscious ego, composed of the qualities we reject and repress into the unconscious.” - The Duality of Man
When we write from flow, we can go into the deepest and most hidden parts of ourselves. In my opinion, we go past that into the space where ideas and archetypes live, we have access to every emotion or thought that has ever been.
I know this will date me, but one of my favorite examples of the Shadow is Dark Willow from Buffy - she’s just so terrifying and satisfying at the same time. This week, I invite you to create your own Shadow self and write some poems or a story in her voice.
It is important to remember what Natalie Goldberg says, “We are not the poem,”
"The problem is we think we exist. We think our words are permanent and solid and stamp us forever. That's not true. We write in the moment. Sometimes when I read poems at a reading to strangers, I realize they think those poems are me. They are not me, even if I speak in the "I" person. They were my thoughts and my hand and the space and the emotions at that time of writing. Watch yourself. Every minute we change. It is a great opportunity. At any point, we can step out of our frozen selves and our ideas and begin fresh. That is how writing is. Instead of freezing us, it frees us."
Some Prompts for your own writing
The themes this week are about light and shadow, multiplicity, the many selves, diving deeply into uncomfortable places, owning our darkness and our light.
Creative prompt
Take some photos of yourself using interesting light,
make shadows on the wall, hide or reveal aspects of yourself
use an app to make them black and white and play with the contrast.
Journaling prompt
What are some things that annoy you in other people?
Can you see how some of those traits may be shadow desires of your own that you have denied yourself?
When was the last time you lied? What truths did it tell you?
What pieces of yourself would like to be seen, acknowledges, integrated?
Some words for you to play with
shade, stark, deep, mirror, reflection, shatter, ombre, gradient, light, bright, soft, hard, sheen, night, shine, shimmer, glimmer, sun, exposure, tint, lens, gaze, shadow
10 Poetry Prompts (set a timer for 5 mins, pick one, and go)
It cut the room in half…
it rose from the shadow…
I tried to hide…
the light came from…
I let it out…
The truth is…
If they ask me…
the darkness whispered…
the new me…
I remember the light…
Thank you for being here! I’d love to see any work you write from these prompts! Post them in the comments or tag me <3
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Great post, but the black and white of the cat is stellar!
Oh yes, the play of light and dark is so obvious in art and photography - but equally important in our writing. Thanks for an inspiring piece. 🧡