When we meet our shadow self in the underworld of our struggle and suffering, there is nowhere to run. It may feel tempting to numb out, but we have gone down that road a million times and the result is always the same. The only way out is to go through, to face what we fear and truly see and embrace what holds us back. Maybe they are beliefs we inherited from our parents or teachers or anyone to whom we ever looked for guidance and reassurance. Maybe we ingested the belief that we will never be good enough or worthy of real love because that was the message we were given. When we feel depressed or like we have lost all hope, we can instead reframe it as we are sitting in the void of all potential creation. We can imagine we are resting in the belly of Mother Earth and she will hold us until we emerge in wholeness.

When we let ourselves sink into that void and face the lost parts of us or fragments of our soul, we may come upon deep feelings of rage and grief. These often represent younger versions of ourselves, parts of us who never received the love and reassurance we needed at a crucial time. As our soul is always moving toward healing, even when we are depressed we can look at is as an opportunity to heal and rediscover lost parts of ourselves, lost fragments of our soul. When we meet these (perhaps) crying and screaming parts of us in the underworld/void, we can embrace them and reassure them that they are loved; they are wanted; they are cherished. Even as we ourselves feel broken, these parts of us only know love they are receiving from us. And when we love these parts of ourselves and give them what they never received, each part of us becomes more whole.