Happy Tuesday!

Real talk: have you ever had one of those days where you just felt, well, emotionally blah? 

Nothing specific is warranting the blah but you just are the trenches… with yourself? 

That was me the other day. 

I was obsessing and mentally ‘spinning’ about everything and nothing, which logically I knew was super unproductive, but I couldn’t stop. And I couldn’t sleep.

It really sucked. 

Not sure what else to do with myself, I just got out of bed and went for a walk with the dogs (who was super confused but overjoyed we were going out in the dark)

The block was still.

The moon shone down on us like we were in a cool thriller movie. 

I passed by purple and orange Halloween lights and the air smelled like rain. 

And in my blah haze, I walked, annoyed, tired and pissy. But after about ten minutes, I was reminded of a simple truth-until we fully embrace our Shadow, you can”t fully appreciate the Light. 

The Shadow is that part of you that you may try to hide from others. 

The part that sometimes has dark, weird, “negative” thoughts and desires that don’t jive well with convention. 

Th parts you may be ashamed of within yourself. 

In this case, my Shadow thoughts were obsessive and filled with worry and fear about things I could control. 

I was annoyed at myself for feeling that way. 

But as I winded around the street, I felt this inexplicable calm was over me. 

What if I just let it be okay that I felt not okay in that moment? 

Like, not just let it be okay but full on celebrated and welcomed all the Shadow feelings? 

Eeeeek! 

A tiny smile crept on my face. 

Yes, that felt…better. 

To truly be ready to receive love requires that you first acknowledge, honor and love the Shadow within you. A few ways to do that? 

• Ask it what it wants to say to you
• Actually listen to it even if you think it’s weird, embarrassing or irrational
• Journal it out, send yourself an audio message, go for a walk-basically create a safe space to help it express itself
• Make yourself a promise to stop making it wrong for being there. It just wants to be seen 

The more you can practice this, the more you loosen your grip on needing to control everything. 

And when you aren’t trying to control everything, there is space for beautiful gifts and love, people, opportunities, etc to feel safe to come your way. 

Q: What helps you to honor your Shadow? Leave a comment on the blog! I’d love to hear from you. 

ps: Would you lie a sacred space to honor your Spirit this November (11:11)? Join me for a Winter Retreat in West Hollywood! Click here to learn more!