Hello dear friends,
How are you doing? Really. This week was a doozy. I know you felt the heaviness while continuing to tend to the needs of those around you. Perhaps you longed to sit down with someone who really gets you and just cry it out, but there just wasn't time. Don't you worry, I'm bringing her to you.
If you haven't met psychotherapist, Paula Prober, it is time. She is one of the most beautiful souls on the planet and she gets gifted. She coined the term and concept, "The Rainforest Mind," to describe the vibrant, complex inner world of the gifted. Through her popular blog, she supports gifted individuals across the globe.
Paula recently released this blog post which I want to share with you. It is a good reminder that when we feel helpless, angry, and disillusioned, the one thing we can shift is ourselves. In tending to our own inner world, we are better equipped to support those little ones in our charge. Without further ado... here's Paula Prober. Enjoy!
Face Your Demons. Slay Your Dragons. Mend Your Broken Heart.
“We all have the dark, ignorant shadow inside us. I have worked endlessly to reveal it and heal it in me.” ~ Anne Lamott
Psychotherapy has been described as the opportunity to explore with a compassionate, experienced guide what is often called the dark night of the soul. It is the journey to face your demons. Slay your dragons. Mend your broken heart.
Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
Well, OK, maybe not fun. But necessary. Courageous. A way to unravel your family legacy of, say, abandonment, loss, abuse, trauma, and/or denial, and to make an actual contribution to world peace (I’m serious.) because you are no longer unconsciously re-enacting patterns set up by your crazy (not a technical term) or neurotic or abusive or delusional ancestors and projecting them onto innocent bystanders, including your children. In fact, you will, instead, be repairing the damage, disrupting the legacy, soothing your worn out nervous system, learning self-compassion, and discovering your particular path(s) to love and to creating a better world.
Granted, I am a psychotherapist, so I see most things through this lens. But I am guessing you will agree, we have a whole lot of unconscious, delusional, re-enactment going on these days. Some might say, we always have; it is just more obvious now. I would have to agree. And I recognize there are a lot of different opinions about how best to address the shadow side of humanity mayhem. In my view, there is no one particular right path or one answer for everyone. And yet. For those of you who see your own demons and dragons running amok, those of you who are brave enough to notice you do, in fact, have a broken heart to mend, this might be a journey you are ready to take.
What I have seen in myself and my clients as we dig ourselves out from under the rubble of our early lives (oh so many therapy metaphors!), is that you build a new foundation. You build a safe home where you can learn to trust and love yourself so you can trust and love others. Gradually, your outer life improves as your inner life is healed. And then, your rainforest mind is free to express itself in its fullest, overexcitable-est, idealistic-est, creative-est ways. I mean it.
Your ancestors will thank you. Your children will thank you. Your demons and dragons will run amok marathons for charitable causes.
Paula Prober is a psychotherapist, author, blogger and all-around good human.
Check out her blog here.
Paula also has several books on Amazon which are FULL of helpful support and resources and can be found here.
Thank you for sharing my post, Tina! We just might make the photo a little smaller???