None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm. –Henry David Thoureau
Most of us will feel a prickle of denial when we think of ‘humbling’ ourselves. Humbling ourself, in this instance, means we have pulled up some of our shadow stuff, awknowledged it, and told it time to go away. Yes, we all have a shadow side. Yes, we have all said or done or thought things we should not have. We, as we age, need peace, need great moments of unadulterated joy. We need it like air to breathe. We are not helpless nor victim to our cricital inner voices, unless we choose to. Choose NOT too.
To feel more comfortable with YOURSELF becomes a prcieless thing. Aging is difficult and it becomes all the more difficult if we have not attended to our shadow side that has way too much to say. It is hard work, sometimes, but it only takes a fw moments to awknowledge and accept what our shadow side has to say and then, poof, you can let it go because you have sorted something of the past out since it is not congruent with Present spaces and places you are in in the Now.
Realizing these thoughts are yours, alone, and no one else is thinking about them.. only you.. you are in total chsrge of what you allow to seep into your thoughts. I spend a great deal of time saying, “Yeah, yeah, I know!”
Art journaling is great healing work. I do portraits, whimsical portraits, which is appropos because my shadow side is a whole lot of fantasy and fiction since it happened long ago and memories are warped. I can put an unwanted thought down in the bottom layer of a painting and then paint something over it, and I do not even need words. Poof! It goes away. (And, if you do not quite stifle it, do it again until you no longer have that feeling or thought left there more than a fading set of marks and lines).
Becoming a wise old woman, we need space to place the new experience and we make room for more positives of lessons we, ourselves, have learned along the way. Our past old dark stuff becomes light stuff the moment you use it to heal or help others.
I hope this has brought you loving, compassionate thought, as I clear away some more of my own shadow-side thoughts. Do this work with great love, full compassion, and , sometimes, do it as if you were burying your dead child. It is holy work towards allowing things to go their own way, allowing ourselves the compassion we deserve, allowing ourselves the authenticity of understanding our shadow side so we might be free to feel joy. Yes to allowing our joyful soul to tke the wheel on this ride ride and shine some light on our shadow side…the light of compassion for self.
©Carol Desjarlais 3. 18.22
No comments:
Post a Comment