There are times when I don’t recognize the little moments of shame. The shoves and bruises to my sense of self and place in the world that can happen during my day. It’s so much easier to recognize it when something big happens – a rejection, a failure, a complete denial. Those moments knock us down, so it’s quite clear we have to struggle our way back up again.
But most of the time, it’s the small moments that seep in…those are the ones that water down our confidence, steal our trust, weaken our outlook on life. We shrink ourselves just a little bit in the face of them. And if we’re not attentive, they accumulate, and we end up sure we’re unworthy, not enough, wrong. We become distant from our hearts, full of uncertainty and with an ache we just can’t soothe.
Shame is a subject I will continue to explore until I no longer find the juice in it. Thankfully, it is still pouring out its wisdom. It continues to teach me how much we all long to feel we are enough, to the very depths of our bones, flesh, skin and hearts.
Sometimes it can be as simple as letting it move through you.