BDSM and fetish in general is a misunderstood and highly prejudiced lifestyle. It all comes down to a deep social taboo and the expectation of keeping the shadow aspect of our person, or the shadow, under control and hidden. What is the shadow of one’s own person? Originally theorized in Jungian psychology, it is one of our two sides; the first is the person or facade that we show to the world that conforms to the rules and standards of society. The shadow aspect is who we really are, but we hide from society, and many times people don’t even recognize it because of how negative they feel. The shadow can have traits like selfishness, selfishness, laziness, greed, lust, etc. depending on the individual person. It houses what we act out in our dreams and, in many people, it can manifest in our dreams as a person of the same gender as the dreamer, and it can appear with dark and / or inexplicable features. Our interaction with the shadow in our dreams can reveal one’s current state of mind. The shadow often determines what we enjoy watching in movies and / or reading in books. It is everything we wish we could live openly, but suppress due to a deep, often justified fear of rejection due to what we were taught as children. Most people will go through life completely unaware of their shadow aspect and will live unsatisfied lives and will never really understand why they feel like something is missing.
People who practice BDSM are a group that has come to fully recognize, fantasize, or even accept and indirectly live in harmony with their shadow. This is in direct contrast to the overwhelming majority of society who unconsciously engage in endless battle with her. Personally, I decided a long time ago that I would not suffocate my shadow look for the happiness of others. That said, I also come from a childhood that is far beyond most people’s comprehension. The details are not open for discussion in this article, or at this time, but they were to the detriment of forming who I am today and forming the alliance that I have with my shadow appearance and explain the utter lack of shame in having it. However, in essence, most people are never forced to find their shadow look if they don’t want to. He lived it or saw how it was lived on a daily basis and was very familiar with it as a child, although he did not even know what it was, or that it was abnormal for one to be so in tune with it. My shadow was just my friend, my ally, my voice.
I have found that quite a few people who are open to their BDSM lifestyle are very much in touch with their shadow. Although they may never have known his name, they have always been aware of a side of them that they know is not acceptable by social standards, but embrace it regardless. Most of the people who are locked in their love for BDSM have a common fear of each other; fear of what their family and / or others will think of them. In fact, their fear is so strong that all too often I have seen people who spend most of their lives hiding who they really are so as not to upset their loved ones. As you sit for a moment of pondering tonight, ask yourself this: do you know your shadow? In answering this question, you may find that you are much more or much less true to yourself than you imagined. The impact your shadow consciousness has can be huge when it comes to your BDSM life or life in general. At the very least, maybe your newfound knowledge and awareness of your own shadow will give you a new respect for BDSM and fetish communities.