Leaving the State of Denial

I’m good. Are you good? You ARE good? Good! That’s good.

But, are you… really?

It’s a coping mechanism to keep those interactions at a surface level so you avoid being too vulnerable or getting “too involved.”

But this can keep you feeling isolated and disconnected from others…

And more so, in internal dialogues with yourself…

“I’m fine.”
“I’m staying calm and carrying on.”
“Busy, busy, busy.”
“That’s in the past, I’m over it.”
“THOSE people are the problem. Otherwise, it would be fine.”

We stick our “head in the sand” (which by the way…ostriches DON’T really do!), and choose to ignore the very real old emotional stories we carry with us into our daily lives.

Not all old trauma is BIG. Trauma experiences can be subtle too. They can be old. They can be cumulative.

Not all trauma has other people to blame. Some does, for sure. And with those experiences, time to face the pain, healing, and hopefully accountability, needs to occur.

But some old trauma is simply the way we perceived and processed an experience as a child; not yet cultivating the skills to understand the stories at play to bring more awareness to the experience.

It gets stuffed back into the recesses of our psyche and forms our Shadow.

By courageously looking at your shadow stories of old hurts, misunderstandings, stifled feelings and talents, and childhood-era coping skills, you can leave that State of Denial and step out into a much bigger space.

The last few years have created trauma, both huge and small, obvious and subtle, for everyone in some way. No matter what your perspective on the whats, whys, and wherefores of what happened.

The world shut down.

Your world changed drastically.

Just that alone causes trauma. The quicker we discounted that and simply moved forward, meant that those fears of uncertainty, frustration, anger, concern, etc. were intentionally bundled away to be dismissed and forgotten.

But… the psyche never forgets.

You may be in denial of those stories, but your Shadow psyche remembers, and it can wreck havoc with your life in the most curious and unexpected ways.

This is not about dwelling in that space of “woe is me” and pain.

It’s about not denying that those spaces are part of you.

It’s not about blame.

It’s about being willing to understand yourself better by seeing those spaces and understanding how they affect your thoughts and beliefs today.

That’s Shadow Work.

That’s how you leave the State of Denial.