Your wound is your medicine. Whatever you keep hidden, whatever you hope they never see, that is what makes you most lovable. The dark parts, the parts you are trying to ‘fix’ are the ones that need the most tender sunlight shone upon them.

I see this all the time in the self-improvement, self-growth world. I see it in me. We try so hard to stay positive, to focus on the good, etc. And this is all swell, but not to the point that we deny our shadow. Everything has a shadow. And to not acknowledge the shadow, is to deny the wholeness of a thing, the sacredness of a thing. To quote the great Leonard Cohen (listen to the song):

ring the bells that still can ring
forget your perfect offering
there is a crack in everything
that’s how the light gets in

In attempting to create the perfect life, relationship, business, etc – we loose our humanness. We lose what makes us dynamic, animated creatures who are not static, but ever creative beings.

The shadows exist because somewhere in there is a piece of your soul needing some more understanding, compassion, freedom. Love is the elixir. Compassion is the medicine for the shadow.

According to Jungian psychology, this archetype of the Wounded Healer is in all of us. It is the aspect that knows how to extract wisdom and joy from pain. It is not only some of us who are the healers. We are all healers in our own right.

If you have a wound that you haven’t spoken of yet, or spoken of so many times you are tired of listening to yourself, try this:

Lay down supine on the green grass, on your bed, somewhere comfortable and quiet.Place your hands over the heart, left on top of right.Soften into yourself. Relax. Feel your back body become like the mud of the earth, soft, maliable, rich.Ask your Inner Healer to come forth and guide you with some particular wound or pain you are experiencing.Trust what comes. Trust your imagination. Trust yourself. It may take asking a few times.Give thanks and gratitude for this aspect of yourself to have shown itself.
Be very gentle with yourself. Healing is not to be rushed. Healing happens when the conditions are right, when you have safety and space to go into it.

Love is always the elixir.

If you feel so inclined, I’d love to hear what messages the Inner Healer has to share with you.