In deciding who we are, we also decide who we are not. There are important parts of our selves that don’t fit the persona we try to show to the world. But like light and shadow, both make up the whole picture.

What qualities have we set aside? What is available there, that we’ve been afraid to bring out in the open? What gold is hiding in our shadows?

We’ll be using the context of Aikido to explore our shadows in one of Goldberg Sensei’s always intense and transformational Aikido In Focus workshops, “Aikido, Fear, and Freedom,” coming up on September 11, 2011.

I’m looking forward to getting acquainted with my shadow self.