Fear and Self Care
All of us have developed ways to keep ourselves relatively safe in the midst of life’s challenges. Our survival skills are what allows us to adapt as human beings in the midst of a constantly changing world. Yet at a certain point something calls us to move beyond our fears and limitations and to seek a more enduring state of consciousness.
For me this has required turning right into the face of my fear and staring it in the face. Now the trick is not to get lost in it because it can be pretty convincing sometimes. Often there are early imprints from before we had verbal capabilities that scared us. Sometimes they weren’t even such horrible things, but we somehow felt trapped or hopeless. Even getting lost in a department store can leave a deep impact on a sensitive child. So it is quite natural for us to feel resistance to this process of uncensored drawing and painting for it is a powerful thing that can bring up our fears as well as our divine wisdom. But allowing the energy of fear to move through us in small and safe ways helps to defuse the tension that builds up in us when we repress and deny what frightens us. The important thing is to have skills and resources that allow us to comfort and reassure ourselves when we bump up against something unsettling in this process. That is what the Body/Mind Resources are for. I encourage you to use Compassionate Curiosity and Equanimous Breathing to help you move through any discomfort you may encounter. And as always, if something feels to be too activating then put it aside and slow the process down. If you need to, seek some personal assistance and support from a loved one or a professional. You are the best judge of what is right for you and so I encourage you to only go as deep as you feel ready for in this process. Faster is not necessarily better. |