PseudoInnocence

"Self-deception remains the most difficult deception. The tricks that work on others count for nothing in that well-lit back alley where one keeps assignations with oneself. If we do not respect ourselves, we are forced to despise those who have so few resources as to consort with us, so little perception as to remain blind to our fatal weaknesses. We are peculiarly in thrall to everyone we see, curiously determined to live out – since our self-image is untenable – their false notion of us. We flatter ourselves by thinking this compulsion to please others an attractive trait: a gist for imaginative empathy, evidence of our willingness to give. At the mercy of those we cannot but hold in contempt, we play roles doomed to failure before they are begun."
-Joan Didion



"The daimon throws us down, makes us traitors to our ideals and cherished convictions- traitors to the selves we thought we were."
-C.G. Jung

Evil does exist in the world.
Some people consciously choose to participate in thoughts, words and actions that are meant to damage others (and ultimately damage themselves, too). I have previously believed that we are all doing the best we can, that any manifestation of evil was purely consequential of our mortal collective efforts on the path of enlightenment. This is not true. The devil exists and he is here on earth, among us all.

Yes, we all have a choice. We can walk a path of pseudo-innocence, running from the reality of our dual human natures, or we can walk a path where our shadows are accepted and honored as the dark forces of destruction that seeth inside of us. When we stand in the brightest light, our shadows are the darkest they have ever been. Without destruction, there is no creation. The way in which we interact with our own dark energy impacts the energetic outcome of all the shadow we face in this dangerous world of modern human interaction.

The path to self-respect is a long and confusing one that takes an extraordinary amount of individual inner work to achieve in modern society. We have a choice to walk that difficult path or not, a choice to add merit to the universe or to take it away.
After our deaths, the memories of our actions in the minds of others is our only legacy.
What do you want your legacy to consist of?