”The brightest form of light is the darkest of the black holes, for it is the closest to the state of darkness in which light was created.” —RZA, The Tao of Wu
It is often said “The eyes are the windows to the soul,” and like yours, these two windows of mine have witnessed their fair share of experiences, and within the full varied spectral range of colorful emotions.
Joy,
Hope,
Love,
Happiness,
Beauty,
Wonder,
Pleasure and Light,
but also plenty of
Pain,
Sorrow,
Sadness,
Despair,
Struggle,
Suffering,
Rage,
Depression and
Darkness.
I’ve played with them all and never actually escaped from any of these feelings, especially the darkness, but I did learn to love myself there, right dead in the thick of my darkest hour.
When my life was at its darkest, was when the light of truth began to brightly reveal itself. It pierced through the blackness of the abyss, illuminating all the darker aspects of myself I had deemed as “unpleasant,” and always kept hidden away. The light of truth gracefully unveiled to me how it’s our darkest shadows that are kept heavily guarded under lock and key, need of love the most, and especially the aspects we feel particularly the most uncomfortable, guilty and shameful about.
Of course I had to learn this, and possibly the “hard way,” but now I know you can never really run or hide from the neglected parts of ourselves. The shadows always have a way of subconsciously resurfacing their heads somehow and rarely ever in opportune timing.
So I learned how to reintegrate these unpleasant aspects of myself through awareness, understanding and compassion, and instead of turning a blind eye, I began including them into my life as pieces to the puzzle forming the larger part of the whole, without them I would be incomplete.
I am grateful for my dark experiences, for without them, I would’ve never been exposed to the multitudes of various shadows residing within us all. I realized in turning around and facing my shadows, they became nothing but temporary obstructions, but ended up permanently empowering me through the awareness and the courage I gained to overcome them to create my new, different and positive lifestyle.
Without the darkness I would not have rediscovered self-love, self-compassion and self-care.
This dark period of my life was the milestone as I embarked upon my first real inner journey, gaining greater clarity and insight into the depths of my true nature, enabling me to explore deeper into the realms of inner-knowledge and self-awareness, opening a treasure trove of inner wisdom that led to an intensely immersive transformation and expansion. It was my full blown personal self-realized revolution. In the darkest moments where I felt so utterly lost and confused, I found the truth.
The light of truth allured me, and transformed the self-hatred I held towards myself, others and the world into love.
Darkness contains within itself the capacity to transmute into light, and hatred always has the capability to transform into love. This is a choice and one each individual must decide for themselves. The fear I once had about the darker aspects of myself were replaced by trust in both myself and that of all humanity.
I made my choice.
I choose to live with an open heart, vulnerable and naked, exposing my soul along this Soultrekk, my path, my purpose, calling and the entire reason I am here today choosing to share my experience with all of you.
I never did escape the darkness. I just learned to love myself there.
Join me, let’s walk one another home, and I’ll show how you can SoulTrekk along in your life, loving each and every bit of yourself, including the darkness too.
Photo/Pexels