Amnesty of Shadows
Calling home all that is exiled
Hello Hedge Schoolers,
This week's contemplation is about amnesty. The amnesty I have in mind is one we can all enact. An amnesty of shadows. A welcoming home with love and open arms of the shadows that you've forever run from. An opportunity to breathe into the unique twists and knots of your personhood that make you squirm. It all counts. Physical. Emotional. Psychological. It all counts.
“The task is simple and takes a life pilgrimage to attain, to inhabit our life fully, just as we find it, and in that inhabitation, let everything ripen to the next stage of the conversation. We do this because this is how we make meaning and how make everything real.”
- David Whyte
Healthy transcendence, a term coined by psychologist and author of Transcend, Scott Barry Kauffman Ph.D., is the confrontation of ALL parts of us, not just the parts we love. Dealing with all the truths, not just versions that are more palatable allows us to grow and develop. The dark places hold keys to truths we are often afraid to hear. Afraid to face.
So let's call home the Prodigal Shadows.
Where to look? Where to put the call out?
Begin in the ditches. With our addictions. The vices we turn to when we need to run. The distractions that fill the gap of the awkward silence of pain with a soundtrack of everything will be alright.
Begin by just noticing.
Bring loving awareness to the friction.
When do you feel the pull?
What is it trying to tell you?
What stories show up?
Personally, one of my shadows is managing my off switch. For example, while I wait for a coffee or at my kid’s basketball training, I'm itchy about the wasted time. I could be DOING. Doing something. Could be moving the needle on something. While this is multitasking under the guise of productivity, it cuts deeper.
It involves a story of self-worth that is tied to feeling the need to outwork others to be of value.
Downing tools for deep rest feels like a waste of time but I know the truth. I’m running from facing that shadow.
So I welcome home that shadow element of myself.
With open arms.
With love in my heart.
Without judgment.
Welcome, dear one.
Welcome Home
Welcome home the shadows
in loving embrace
of all knots
and twists
Breathe in all the way
the slithers
slain by perceptions
and disregard
It all matters
Be in truthful dialogue
with all that you
banish
Open the door to the best bits
tattooed with judgment
and scorn
Love it all
For it is alright
All right.
Till next week,
Much love,
Steve