One cannot fully experience the brightness of light without having experienced the dark. It is essential to embrace darkness as well as light. As a human race we are very judgemental about things or actions that we disapprove of. Most of the disapprovals originate from the way we were brought up, the country we live in and the cultural values we adopted. So our judgement is based on good or bad. Even though you might not say it, there is a continuous voice in your head that judges all kinds of things throughout the day. Did you ever wonder why somebody would steal something from you? Or why people commit a murder? Why people would abuse children?

Most of us react with only disapproval, disgust of anger. And of course that’s very logical because most people wouldn’t choose to take these actions themselves. By now increasingly more people become aware of the way our world is structured and there are many stories revealed about abuses, mind control and so-called conspiracy theories. Once you dive deep into the stories you will probably first feel disbelief and subsequently disgust and anger, which is understandable.

However, there is more to the story. Let’s say you are just the observer. You don’t need to think, feel or judge anything regarding this situation. Just watch as if it is a movie or a theatre play. As a result you won’t feel engaged and therefore go on with your life. You might even say to others that you enjoyed this great play or movie as you would say about science fictions movies.

Now, let’s analyse this ‘play’. What happened? What motives could the diverse actors have to take these actions? What would you have done in the situation of a particular player? Can you understand the reasons behind their behaviour or actions?

A good way to understand people’s behaviour is to put yourself in their shoes. Most behaviour derives from beliefs, experiences and emotions, such as pain, anger and desire. Now let’s say you have a great desire to become a famous singer. You are good at it, it’s what you love most and you dream of a great international career. Then someone with influence notices your talent and promises you that great career. You are in the seventh heaven, your dream is coming true. As you turn into a famous singer, the person that supported you on this path starts to make all kinds of strange requests that you don’t like. At this point you are already entangled in the situation which often means that if you don’t meet the requests, your career will be over. The one that turned you into a star, can easily take you down again.

Another driver for doing things that most people disapprove of, is pain. A quite familiar example from your environment might be people who are betrayed by their partner with another person. As this results in a divorce, some people are filled with anger. They cannot get over the betrayal and take all kinds of actions to hurt the ex-partner in return. For instance, by setting up children against their mother or father or deciding on not giving alimony. There are also cases where they go as far as killing children or a new partner.

The last example in this context is that some people state that if someone hurts their children, they will kill the perpetrator. I am pretty sure that those people disapprove of killing someone or are not likely to actually do so in that particular situation. Of course there are examples of people who did actually kill the person who hurt their children. And even though people in general don’t approve of killing, many people can relate to the killer in this particular situation.

So by now you might be wondering what embracing the dark has to do with the brightness of light. Well obviously, the given examples represent the dark side of humanity. I would like to add two perspectives to this story. Firstly, light can’t be seen or felt without darkness. The opposites determine the brightness of the light and the extent of darkness. This is emphasized by the stars. The darker the sky is, the brighter the stars are. Everything in life has a dark and light side. Without this contrast our emotions would not exist. Our emotions create our experiences. What would happy feel like, if there would not be sadness? Without poorness there would be no richness. Without ugly, beauty wouldn’t exist and so forth.

Secondly, and this might take some effort to understand. Every human being has a dark and a light side. All the things we disapprove of or reject exists in every human being. Situations and emotions can drive us to do things that we ‘never would do’. I acknowledge this is hard to imagine and it certainly doesn’t mean that you suddenly should approve of dark actions.

It might feel very awkward to adopt this concept. Let alone, to think of yourself as someone who would be able to do things you detest or highly disapprove of. However, it is very useful to understand this concept, which is called shadow work. When you realise the motives for dark actions, your anger will turn into understanding. Not for the action itself, but for the person who does this. Now why is that important? Understanding creates empathy. Now don’t get me wrong empathy isn’t the same as approval. You still detest the action. The only thing that changes is your action towards the other, namely sending light and love. This is a much stronger emotion than anger or even hatred. If you are able to send love to the other, you are stronger. The more love you feel inside and towards others, the more sovereign and untouchable you will be. This means that the unfortunate things that happen in your life, will be easier to deal with. Oftentimes this shadow work results in more resilience or even a greater life experience. You will eventually understand that life is a journey with all kinds of experiences without considering them as good or bad. The stamp of what is good or bad is man-made and creates matching emotions.

Everyone who integrates their shadow side is eventually happier because they understand that life is a game and you can choose your own game. Additionally, from a mother earth perspective, the more people living in love, the higher chance on world peace. Energetically we are all one, even though we experience separation.