This is not only the case with “external” others – those other persons in our lives – but also with the multitude of “internal” others as they shift shapes and take form as voices, figures, and images of the interior landscape. These visitors can be relentless and do not give up easily. But they have no choice other than to surrender, ultimately, to what you really are.
The voices that come and declare – “There is something wrong with you. You have failed yet again. You have fallen short. You have done life wrong. You are no good. You are uninteresting. You are unlovable as you are.”
The voices of the past, the shadow of the teachers and the culture, the lineages of intergenerational trauma and unconsciousness. The voices of a world that has forgotten the holy within, that have lost touch with the sacredness of the human form.
These internal characters must also be met with the boundaries of curiosity, consciousness, and the intention to care for ourselves in radical new ways. To enter relationship with these ones, to dialogue with these figures and to proclaim our own basic goodness. To not merely accept their conclusions, reality tunnels, and the lenses through which they have come to see things. But to step into what we are.
To take the risk of telling a new story, dreaming a new dream, spinning out a new tale, weaving new cloth. And to allow ourselves to be turned by the great Weaver itself… as new vision is revealed.
My new book - A Healing Space: Befriending Ourselves in Difficult Times - is now available for pre-order at Amazon and will be published by Sounds True in November.
My previous book - The Path is Everywhere: Uncovering the Jewels Hidden Within You - is available at Amazon.
We've decided to leave our monthly online community, Befriending Yourself, open for enrollment during these uncertain and challenging times. For more information, please visit the course page here.
