Dancing With Your Shadow

I took this photo of my niece a few weeks ago. She is such an amazing little girl! My sister is a wonderful mom! It inspired me so much that I want to write about it. Such a beautiful example of embracing your own shadow. She said to me, "I dance with my shadow every day, Aunt Trina." Our children are our teachers, if only we took the time to truly listen to them. My son, my nieces, my nephews, and my students teach me something new every day. We are all constantly striving for more, for better, and never fully satisfied with what is right in front of us. This is only a reflection of how we feel about ourselves. We never see ourselves as good enough just the way we are. We see our imperfections as "bad" instead of loving ourselves as we are. This in turn makes us set unrealistic expectations in our relationships and for the world around us. What if we were just happy right here...right now? What if we all accepted our imperfections and truly loved ourselves the way children do? What if we all were unafraid to really show our true selves? Our beautiful, quirky, weird, incredible selves. Who dance and sing like no ones watching, who smiles at every stranger, who laughs at the smallest things, who finds joy in every single moment, and who expresses emotion when they feel it.

People tend to harden their children by telling them, "Stop crying! Grow up! Stop being such a baby! You are OKAY!" It makes me cringe when I hear these words sometimes. These children then feel that it isn't safe to feel their own emotions. In turn, it makes them hardened adults instead of staying connected with the core of who they are. When we can freely express our emotions, we are staying true to who we are. When we cover up and hide from them, we are only harming ourselves. Feeling our emotions is a beautiful part of our humanity. They help us to grow and soften our hearts. Showing your vulnerability to someone takes courage and strength. We will never be perfect, so why do we expect others to be? To me, enlightenment is when we embrace our shadows, our egos, our imperfections. When we come into balance of light and dark. When we truly love ourselves unconditionally. With out that, we could never fully love others. We seek out others to fulfill a part of ourselves rather than finding it within ourselves. No one can complete you. You must do that on your own. So, dance dance dance with your shadow. Face it. Love it. Embrace it. Feel it. Learn from it. It loves you and so do I!