Paradoxically, the people who
see themselves as the moral or good,
carry the largest repressed shadows.
The shadow refers to the parts of
ourselves that we learn to repress
or dismiss. Qualities like anger,
selfishness, envy, or even harm.

When someone builds an idealized
image of themselves, anything that
contradicts that image becomes
threatening.

So those traits are repressed instead
of integrated. People with rigid,
idealized self-concepts tend to have
less psychological flexibility.

They struggle to tolerate mistakes,
nuance, or even contradictions within
themselves. And as a result they
minimize, deny responsibility, and
struggle to empathize.

Because acknowledging another person's
pain would feel like an attack on their
idealized identity.

This is why people with a more nuanced
self-concept are more compassionate
and more grounded. They know that
they're 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, paradoxically, you
become more genuinely good.

francescapsychology
art: Haruka Kawakami