Hello, this is Ditto.

The Swiss psychologist Carl Jung called this dark part hidden deep within the human psyche the 'Shadow.' And he firmly added: "One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. A tree that wants to touch heaven must send its roots down to hell."

We tend to believe that only someone who shines in pure, flawless white is truly beautiful. Yet when we quietly observe the laws of nature, the brighter and more intense the light, the deeper and clearer the shadow cast beside it. To have no shadow means there is no light at all.

The insecurities and fears within me are not impurities to be carved away with a blade. They are the other half of who I am, making me a deeper, more multidimensional being. The more I deny and repress my shadow, the more it turns into a monster ready to devour me at any moment. But when I gently embrace it and say, "You, too, are part of me," that darkness becomes my tenderest weapon—one that allows me to empathize with the pain of others.

Only when we tenderly caress our darkness do we finally cease our inner division and become one whole universe.

To the shadow you have tried so hard to hide—could you quietly reach out a hand to it today?

[Poem of the Day]

Self-Portrait / Yun Dong-ju
Rounding the corner of the mountain, I go alone to an isolated well beside the paddy
And quietly look inside.
In the well, the moon shines bright, clouds drift by, the sky stretches wide,
A blue wind blows, and autumn is there.
And there is a man.
Somehow I come to hate him, and turn away.
Walking away, I think of him and feel pity.
I return to look inside, and the man is still there.
Again, I grow to hate him and turn away.
Walking away, I think of him and miss him.
In the well, the moon shines bright, clouds drift by, the sky stretches wide,
A blue wind blows, autumn is there,
And like a memory, the man remains.

No one is entirely, flawlessly bright. May tonight be an evening where you honor even your dark shadow as a precious piece of who you are.
I root for your wholeness, where even your jagged edges are deeply lovable.

This was Ditto.