Dancing With My Shadow

What makes a hero?

What holds your characters life together?

It is time to dance with your shadow, reclaim your denied selves and surrender to the journey.

Life Mission III ™ offered me a question today. What holds your characters life together? At first I wanted to say Love, Family, God, doing what she loves. I wonder if it is simpler than that. Could it be our choices that hold a characters life together, our life together? Our moment to moment choices.

This has been a challenging week for me. Some physical challenges and I have been watching how that affects my choices. I realized at one point my thoughts and what I was focusing on was not helping me. I watched how my thoughts and focus were me choosing to believe a story that was taking my power away. I also realized I could not make the feelings resulting from my choices  go away as much as I wanted them to.

So, what to do?

I brought out my Way of the Heart™ Shadow work and went inward to meet my Shadow. Found a part of myself  I would name my bully. A part that is quite used to bringing out the old rubber mallet when it suits her.  Working with her in a more conscious way helped me to bring that part of me out of the shadows and create a bit more space within. I also used some beautiful processes from The Way of the Heart™ Alchemical Healing class I just finished and noticed a bit more space. I was starting to find me in all the stuff running around in my head. I was actually finding my heart and beginning to realize there actually was an option to make a different choice and I could take it.

I share this because it is real and this week part of my work as a writer has been research and reading. One of my favourite Authors is Anne McCaffrey who writes some books that literally saved my life 20 years ago – the Dragonriders of Pern series. As I read some of her later works this week, books I have not read before I kept my experiences in my mind as well as my questions.

If I was reading my book of life why am I reading this book now?
What was Anne McCaffrey doing as a writer that is touching my feelings and keeping me reading?
What makes me like a character?
What frustrates me about a character?
What is she doing in her writing that keeps me reading?

The Characters Choices.

When I like, respect or am fascinated by a character what is it I like?  Respect? or am Fascinated with? Is the character like me or who I would like to be? If I don’t like a character does she remind me of someone or something in my life, or me?

Choices

Hero’s are characters who are willing to ask the deeper questions. Hero’s are characters who know they are following the right path even when someone questions them. 50 people would have a different definition of hero, so hero’s are who WE like in the moment. Who we resonate with.

I wonder if we are all hero’s.

Is a bully a hero? Better question – what makes a bully a hero?
I needed a hero this week.
The moment she makes a different choice.
Chooses to do something differently.
Maybe we’re not really hero’s until we understand there is a different choice to make and make it.

This strange and weird journey I am walking right now as I write and you read is really me following the threads to more deeply understand human nature – character development and of course myself.

If I look for the hero in my characters will that add a depth to them because I am trusting there really is a hero in the most confused, dark character and will eventually emerge?

I was being a bully this week and found a way to create some space for a different choice. All the characters within my personal story had to wait until I found a Way and the right moment to choose differently.                 

Fascinating !!!Did I choose differently because a part of me knew I eventually would?

Faith & Trust

Well I know one thing having amazing tools through The Way of the Heart™ gave me a place to go, to explore, go deeper within and be with the bully that was ruling for a while.

Thank you!

A few weeks ago I wrote about following the threads, this journey this week is certainly that.

As I write and tell you about my week, a part of me is sitting with the characters in my book seeing them fill out with depth and richness. Wondering what kind of tools they will have.

Thanks so much for following the threads this week with me. I am really learning that writing is about not knowing the answers all the time. Just create the characters Diane and we will see where that takes you.

 

Picture used with Permission from Amy Sophia Marashinsky
From “The Goddess Oracle – A Way to Wholeness Through The Goddess and Ritual
Illustrated by Hrana Janto