In each of us there is a shadow – there is a darkness, an anger at unfairness, maybe a darkness having to do with the times we disappointed ourselves. Our unacceptable feelings, the feelings we’d rather others not see live in the shadow. That shadow can generate tremendous creative energy. It can add authenticity to our work. And depth. It can give our creative work scariness, unpredictability, the imaginative leap.

Art explores what the artist finds most profound about life but can’t quite come to terms with. The questions that have no answer: vulnerabilities that emerge out of your preverbal world, your emptiness, your fullness, your personal myth. Your loves.

Each of us has a myth, a symbolic presence, at the center of our lives. Yours is unique to you, mine unique to me. It is both our deepest truth and a fantasy; its basis is in both reality and the dreamworld of the subconscious. You may know exactly what it is or you may be totally unaware of it. Often it can’t put it into words. You sense it as vague shapes and powerful emotions. It accompanies you in your dreams at night. It takes form in childhood. For good or ill, it accompanies us through life. Sometimes it guides us to self-destruction; sometimes our rebellion against it or our decision to ignore it leads to self-destruction. Our relationship with it determines our relationships with other people, with nature, freedom, captivity (helplessness), security. If you’re a soldier fighting in a war or a volunteer working in a soup kitchen in Boise, Idaho, you’re living out your myth.

As artists, we need to think through the role our myth plays in our work. All great art comes from a kind of primeval encounter, maybe even a struggle, deep down inside, somewhere between light and dark – the conflict between mythological reality and concrete pavement, the dark shadows of night and the blinding sun of morning. Out of the shadow’s darkness emerges a strange and unique beauty.

The inner voice of the psyche needs nurturing so that the lost soul can be rediscovered — the soul of creativity. Use journaling to explore the interplay between the acceptable and unacceptable you. The grinding of light against dark can generate sparks that light a fire.

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In your journal explore that rich territory of imagination – the territory you don’t want others to see but that exists and shapes your life nonetheless.