We have a whole universe of parts within us. Some younger than we are now and some exactly our age. The younger parts are too overwhelmed to be incorporated into the fabric of our lives. These parts remain – in the service of our survival – isolated, barricaded without contact with the here and now. However, they do not disappear from our psychological map, we simply do not notice them on a daily basis. They surprise us every time they emerge in our consciousness: “I don’t know why I feel what I feel”, “it’s not like me”, “I reacted so quickly and violently”, “something possessed me”, “this emotion doesn’t go away”.
The younger parts of ourselves do not fit into our accepted self-image. They are cracks through which the past that we do not want or cannot remember penetrates. They want to be integrated into who we are, but they work towards this intention clumsily, impatiently, not listening to the parts of ourselves that we more accept.
Our younger parts carry the history of our hurts and the ways that allowed us to survive hell. They manage our energy, attention and relationships. They make us repeat over and over again what is still unhealed, hoping for – this time – a new ending.
The younger parts of ourselves emerge using the language of symptoms, sensations, emotions, intuitions, images and dreams (but rarely the language of reasoning and description). We take them to body and spirit doctors, we spend every amount of money to get rid of them – now, definitively, mercilessly (however, these are ineffective actions: recovery can only come when we stop medicalizing and demonizing what is sensitive and delicate in us , clumsy). They do not disappear, even if we drown them with work, alcohol, food, shopping, risk or the wisest thoughts of this world.
The younger parts of us wait (more or less patiently) until we notice them: without fear, with curiosity, with love. They hope that we will finally find blocked strength, agency, and vitality in them (this force, when extinguished and undirected, forces us to constantly make the same mistakes).
The younger parts of ourselves guard our being whole. They are not satisfied with a truncated identity that – perhaps once – saved our lives. They want truth for us and the energy that truth releases. They want temporary chaos so that we can organize again. They want a change that will restore what was once so effectively blocked.
The younger parts of ourselves are the alphabet of our future maturity. Having a good relationship with them, we regain lost resources in our lives and paths to return to balance.
There is no avoiding the path to old hurts. So let’s take the younger parts of us to a place where we can safely and slowly get to know each other. Let’s respect what they tell us in our dreams. Let’s see how and where our body stores them. Let them spontaneously draw, write, dance and create. Let’s give them a platform to express themselves.
I wish us a lot of ground, fluidity and good meetings on this important path of integration <3.
