30x40 Acrylic and oil on canvas

I have often run away, abandoned,  avoided my self… so I thought why not pay attention?

The shadow self is explained as the subconscious, the beautiful imaginative space of the brain where we run on autopilot in our programming and patterning gathered from this lifetime and potentially from lifetimes before. And within that - there is a darker space - holding space for heartbreak, grief, fear, abandonment, feeling too much - in a lower vibrational feeling state. These feelings are brought to the surface, consciously felt and sometimes unexplainably become the guiding force we choose to live by. 

There’s this concept of positivity that sometimes bypasses the shadow and I was on that path. A path of gratitude, excitement and joy for the possibility. Yet I noticed, my body, mind and soul weren’t on board. The depth of my thoughts and feelings around my worth, my passions, my desires were unexplored in my shadow. I was masking a whole aspect of self that is deep, rousing, vibrant, loud and maddening at times. And I am here to love on it, to embrace it in all my fullness. No matter what stage we are in life, we experience these feelings deep within, and it is our power to explore the depths, and soften in awareness.