A Deep Dive Into Archetypes: Shadow Dwellers

Shadow Dwellers are truth-tellers and space-holders who bravely engage with grief, injustice, and the uncomfortable realities that others often avoid.

Shadow Dwellers create space and solutions for uncomfortable truths and difficult conversations. They hold space to confront painful realities in a way that others might shy away from. They are willing to bear witness to grief and loss, and help people to find their path forward. In our map, this includes Ventures and Pods whose work connects to things like racism, Indigenous reconciliation, shame, death, bullying, and oppression. 

On our map, Shadow Dwellers intersect with 5 other groupings because their ability to confront the messiness and pain beneath the surface is an instrumental part of knowledge sharing, storytelling, legacy work, systems development, and making space for others to grow.

Shadow dwellers make our ecosystem resilient by offering the clarity that is rooted in naming what is true. Their presence reminds us that hope requires an understanding of what is as well as a willingness to work towards what could be. Shadow Dwellers hold up a mirror to people and systems and ask, “is this what you want it to be?”