Becoming comfortable with uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, memories and emotions is the essential aspect of the healing journey. Though this may come in different forms at different places and times, the lesson is always the same: We must bring back within what we have shut off, closed down, and barricaded ourselves against. At the outset this is difficult as we are given to re-experiencing thoughts and sensations that we had long forgotten or kept under lock and key. But little by little, and with the help of a gentle, supportive presence (perhaps a therapist or simply the Inner Teacher within), we come to see the joy inherent in returning back to ourselves, in gathering up our lost pieces and reclaiming the wholeness that is our natural inheritance.

artwork: Jerusalem, William Blake