I had been invited to hold some sort of dialogue with my shadow.

Carl Jung suggests the shadow embodies that part of ourselves that we humans separate from and repress. The part of us that doesn't seem acceptable in the world around us, we embody in the shadow.

Now, like I said, I had been wanted to engage in a dialogue with my shadow. Some folks might find this invitation intriguing and perhaps down-right inviting. Not me, however. You see, I have already had that conversation and I assure you that my shadow and I are no longer on speaking terms.

Not only are we not on speaking terms but I rarely even acknowledge his presence anymore. This fact is quite probably due to his character, or, actually, lack of character. You see, character can be defined as doing the right thing even when no-one is looking. And my shadow's character is defective by its own very nature.

When I say that we are not on speaking terms –it's not like we don't communicate- he talks to me constantly; I wish he'd shut-up. And ignoring him doesn't help much either. I can't get away from him and I consistently fail to elude him. He is worse than a doppelganger; that being autonomous and having only the ability to damage my reputation. My shadow is more Mr. Hyde in that we, he and I, are, in reality, inseparable. And here he has not only the ability to damage my reputation but has the capacity to convince me to willfully damage my character by acting out on his defects.

Where I set the alarm clock to go off early enough in the morning to give me a full ninety minutes of time before leaving for work to eat, read, bathe and meditate. My shadow repeatedly races (and beats) me to the snooze bar until a paltry twenty minutes are left to fulfill my entire morning ritual, (and he pushes to make it ten!) leaving me to scrape the ice off my windshield with still-wet hair until five minutes before my scheduled departure time. And then he wants me to do 85 on the interstate to make up for the lost time!

He grows his hair long and doesn't shave for days! He blows off homework assignments and acts as if he can "cram" for the exam and actually pass! He sleeps in the middle of the day and stays up all night. He drinks too much and hangs out with junkies, thieves and prostitutes. He only wears black t-shirts. He deliberately scares people for amusement. He tells people things that they'd be better off not knowing, like how to hot-wire a car or who really masterminded 9-11.

You see, when I say that we are not on speaking terms, it is because that there can be no positive recourse in such intertwining. It's not like I haven't tried; there's just no talking to him. He either doesn't care or just-plain-won't listen. I know this from experience because I know what exactly it is that makes him tick. You see, I have talked with him, I have walked with him. I have seen him and I have been him.

Only, then,