Paradoxically, the people who see themselves as the most moral or "good" often carry the largest repressed shadows.
The shadow refers to the parts of ourselves we've learned to deny or disown. Qualities like, anger, selfishness, envy or even harm. When someone builds and idealised image of themselves, anything that contradicts that becomes threatening. So those traits are repressed instead of integrated.

People with rigid, idealised self-concepts tend to have less psychological flexibility. They struggle to tolerate mistakes, nuance, and contradiction within themselves. As a result, they minimise, deny responsibility, and struggle to empathise. Because acknowledging another person's pain would feel like an attack on their idealised identity.

This is why people with a more nuanced self-concept are often more compassionate and grounded. They know they are capable of both good and bad, so they don't need to protect an image at all costs. When you can hold your own complexity, you paradoxically become more genuinely "good."

Francesca Tighinean
Art: Alex Grey