STANDING STRONG IN WHO WE ARE

"Let me listen to me and not to them."

-- Gertrude Stein

Hi,

Today I'm offering you further reflections from my dear friend Cena. You can read Part 1 here. If you identify with what she says, please share your thoughts on our forum. As women, we can learn a lot about ourselves through our interactions with others.

~ Patrice

Restore your Inner Home (Part 2)

We cannot learn how to become better internal housekeepers until we learn to accept the space that is inherently ours.

We all need a home and the universe provides this, free of charge, for each and every one of us long before we are ever born, long before our parents, and their parents and their parents were born--we each have our spot reserved just for us. This home is within us, around us, it is the scope of our vision, the depth of our feelings, the strength and the frailty of our thoughts. It is ours to claim and to it we must tend--each to our own.

We have all met people that seem larger than life--people who occupy more space than seems humanly possible, more space than most can ever imagine occupying. Conversely, many of us women are consistently crawling into ourselves simply to avoid taking up any more space than is absolutely necessary--we actively try to avoid 'bothering' others with our own needs and desires. We want not to put others out. We politely, often quietly, insist we do not need anything, really.

In doing so, we unconsciously place our inner home on the market, "unused space for rent--apply within." When we choose not to occupy our own space, something or someone will occupy it for us--leaving no room for personal growth, no room for self-love or self-discovery. No room for accurate reflection or quiet contentment. No room for peace or respect. No room for self-possession.

[Read the rest of Cena's story here.]

~ Cena

"There is nothing so healing in all the world as real presence."

-- MacRina Wiederkehr