“The work of the eyes is done. Go now and do the heart-work on the images imprisoned within you.”
– Rainer Maria Rilke

We have so many layers…

We have our conscious and our unconscious…

We have our behaviors and below that our emotions that fuel those behaviors…

We have the masks that we wear in different places and situations—to conform to societal norms, to ‘fit in’ or to protect us…

And we have our external and internal selves…

The external is the seeing and the doing… all those things we undertake, and the energy we put into creating, experiencing, living and perhaps, surviving!

Yet so often at the expense of our internal wellness; keeping busy to remain in the external, not wanting to tune inwards for fear of what lurks in the dark corners…

Yet this internal world is our true, authentic selves… this is where we intrinsically live…

This is the beating heart of who we are… what we feel, experience and think… and without knowing it, it’s what governs the lives we live on the outside…

If we neglect our internal selves, our external selves suffer.

If we ignore or bury what’s sitting within us, those silhouettes will show eventually—maybe tomorrow, maybe in a few months, maybe in a few years…

Yet if we can find some kind of a balance, where we give a little more time and attention to what’s going on inside us, to acknowledge, to notice, or just to sit with whatever comes up, it will enable us to live happier, healthier and longer lives!

It is that powerful!

And I know this is not easy. We don’t want to face the shadows that may lurk within, the polaroids of the past or the worry of what may be…

But ignoring it does not eradicate it.

Denying it only feeds it.

Ways to do the Heart-Work:

• Meditate

• Journal

• Draw or paint

• Breathwork

• Run or walk

• Be in nature

• Relaxation

• Self-care…

But do it YOUR way… find what works for YOU!

For me, it’s journaling.

You can read more about my experience of journaling through the most difficult time in my life here:
JOURNALING THROUGH THE RAGES
https://wavesofthought.substack.com/p/journaling-through-the-rages

So go gently… start slowly… and remember, you are not alone…

I am here, right beside you 💞

Take care & much love,
Julie x

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You can find me here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jules.stead
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-stead-mhwriter/
Substack: https://wavesofthought.substack.com/
Email: wavesofthoughtblog@gmail.com