I have recently become aware of Shadow Work, and this short week of engaging with it has been truly transformational. I had encountered concepts of Shadow Work like projection and ego, but I had not encountered the real meaning and potential behind integration of the Shadow. Theorized by Carl Jung, the shadow of the soul is comprised of the parts of ourselves that we have suppressed in service of presenting a certain persona to the world. The Ego holds these accepted and rejected parts away from each other, but the weight of the shadow is still influencing the egos behavior. Shadow Work, when someone is ready and open to transformation, allows us to reunite these parts of parts of ourselves so that we can move through the world as whole beings in a way that is truly aligned. Have you encountered shadow work? If you have, how did it impact you? If not, what are your initial thoughts?

People often correctly point out that healing is not linear, that grief is not linear. When I sit back and take stock of the things In life we have to heal from, what we have to grieve, life shapes up to be quite the Rollercoaster. My partner was asked this weekend if their job and life make them excited to get out of bed, and his answer was honest: "It actually really sucks sometimes, but you keep going" then he smiled. It was the smile that gave away that yes his job and life were more fulfilling than not, and his honesty about not being excited each morning was truly comforting to me. The answer displayed his honesty, his commitment, and the intentionality with which he lives his life. Would jumping out of bed full of joy everyday honor the people and relationships you're grieving and healing? Would it move you closer to who you are becoming? Would you be inadvertently bypassing important emotional experiences? It seems that the greatest pleasures and successes in life are often Tangled amongst the complex emotions weaving our experience. They are so tightly wound that attempts to rid your life of negative emotion will inadvertently damage the positivity you seek.

At every point in a river, the water is where it is supposed to be along the path of the river, and its placement there is part of what makes the river whole. It can be difficult to accept the slow or rocky times in our lives: we want the slick speed of the water we imagine is ahead, or what we had experienced a few bends ago. But those bends are passed, and the only way forward is through what is happening right now. You don't have to enjoy the process, but trust that you are where you need to be in order to create the whole picture of your life.

A couple of years ago, I found myself obsessed with knowing every update about the Russia-Ukraine War. What had America done? How was Russia responding? Were we headed to nuclear war? The last question was at the root of it: was nuclear winter going to steal my life, family, and future... What took me a while to realize was that I had been squandering the very thing I was so afraid of losing: MY life. In a world with endless information, it is easy to fall in to the trap of thinking political information is the same as political action, and if we aren't aware of our own internal political systems, then we risk being run by parts of ourselves rather than our whole and integrated self. Plato's Republic is often foundational in Political Science courses, but that lense overlooks a central objective of the ancient philosophers: getting to the bottom of what it means to be a person who flourishes as a human. Attaining the Telos (purpose, ultimate aim) of a human being. Platonists often look at the Republic of Plato as less of a manual for ideal governing of a population, and more of a manual for the ideal governing of the self. The Philosopher "King" is your capacity for reason and intellectual pursuit, the knights are your passions (sense of justice, anger, love), and the artisans represent your appetite drives (sex, food, connection, money) Our internal government is the most consequential political landscape we can engage with. Not only does your internal political landscape shape your overall satisfaction with life, it shapes how you show up in the world: it determines HOW you co-create your reality in relationships and communities. Today, instead of consuming information on what is happing in the world, consider the state of affairs in your personal world. Answer this Question in the poll: What kind of ruler is my inner king/queen? Answer this question in the comments: What kind of ruler would you like to have? What do you think is standing in the way?

A lot has happened in the world since my last post. Political forces feel out of our control; and as they impact our day to day lives through gas and grocery prices, it is natural to feel even more helpless in the face of such dynamics. It is a tough pill to swallow that we can't change the entire world, but I think it is important to recognize that we can change our own. As a political actor, you have immense power over the political reality of your internal world (how you manage resources like time, attention, and emotion), and the dynamics within your family and community. If we are all parts of a whole, you have the power to ensure that your part is something to lean on, lead, and be proud of. Allow yourself to feel whatever it is that comes up in the face of national and international politics, consider its impact on your life, and take reaponsibility for how you respond to it internally, in your home, and in your community.