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\nAs we grow in whatever family and wider culture we're born into, we inevitably find out that parts of us are not welcome. Most of us are pretty adept at exiling or hiding those parts away. But what if, instead of labelling them, judging them, and trying to keep them out of view, we learned to turn towards them as if they were bearers of gifts? And what if we could learn that we are indeed made up of many parts, and did what we could to welcome them all? Our 150th episode of Turning Towards Life is a conversation about the freedom that can be gained when we stop over-identifying with particular parts, and the step by step path to recovering our own wholeness that comes when we're willing to do the uncertain messy and loving work of welcoming exiled parts home - with Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.
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\nThis is Turning Towards Life, a weekly live 30 minute conversation hosted by Thirdspace in which Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn dive deep into big questions of human living. Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. We\u2019re also on YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google and Spotify. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website.
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\nOur source for this week is written by Lizzie:
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\nThe Dark Bathing in Warmth Brings Light
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\nNot so easily named but felt, just outside of my vision,
\nWho is this elusive and powerful part of life,
\nCalling my name and disappearing as I turn to see?
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\n\n\nI know now that it has to feel safe to be in the light,
\nSo I reassure and don\u2019t look too directly on as she inches forward to talk.
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\n\n\nWhen she talks there\u2019s hardness and meanness there,
\nAnd in my safety I can hear her without mistaking her as the whole of me (how often have I done that?).
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\n\n\nI hold her in my hands, in my heart,
\nLet her cry and rage and be mean. As long as she will let me.
\nAnd all the while I try to hold this as just a part,\xa0
\nJust some of me, not all.\xa0
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\n\n\nAnd this way I can hold, I can be with, I can witness and most gladly I can learn and let the passion and purpose flow from this part to all of me with all it has to give.\xa0
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\n\n\nAll these years she\u2019s been banished and afraid, and now she comes to sit with us. Sits and says it like it is, and she has space.
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\n\n\nNot all the space she sometimes wants, but space none the less.
\nEnough to be fully heard, learned from, embraces and treated as important and equal.\xa0
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\n\n\nMay I always see this part with my heart and remember my faith in the times of fear. She is here to love me too. She doesn\u2019t have the power to take me over if I turn and look with loving eyes and an open and courageous heart.\xa0
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\n\n\nShe is me, I am her. And I regain so much by turning into her darkness with my light shining faithful and bright, my warmth thick and soft.
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\n\n\nby Lizzie Winn, August 2020
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\nPhoto by Joshua Sortinoon Unsplash
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