Respecting Bad Memories
Bad memories are meaningful to you. That is why something touched you and is still present in you. Respecting your memories is respecting you, also in your imagination.
About Posttraumatic Stress, [see: “PTSD: a groovy kind of stress“].
You can go to your memory with a Compassionate stance.
That is, you don’t want to hurt anyone through this. You would hurt yourself foremost in any case. Compassion means respecting everyone, at least in-depth, what is deep inside you or anyone else.
This way, a bad memory can teach you much about yourself. Why did it profoundly touch you? Maybe it touched you more than it would another person?
Also, how did it affect you or still can affect you in the future?
Respecting bad memories can be especially interesting.
Why is a particular memory meaningful to you?
It is a pattern that accords with your mental patterns. It is like a key in one or more of your doors. This key can open doors.
How can this be challenging to you in a way that may hurt you (more and more) profoundly?
On the other side, is it necessarily bad for you? Are there opportunities in this? Can you grow through this entering of doors inside you? Can it make you a better person?
You are a bit like the valiant dragon slayer who confronts the beast.
But from here on, it becomes different from the easy myths. You don’t kill the beast, preferably. You communicate. For this, you need to be braver than your killing colleagues, the dragon slayers. You look the creature in the eyes, fearlessly.
Can you imagine this now, without thinking concretely about the bad memory itself, but only about this mythical landscape?
Knowing, meanwhile, that the beast symbolizes your memory.
Let it come to you without your trying to influence this all too much. Just let it spontaneously unfold. Within this imagination, be sure that you are valiant enough to look the beast in the eyes.
The dragon represents your bad memory.
If you don’t take care, it overtakes you. This is a dangerous place, but if you handle it well, it’s OK. You can trust it. You can have faith. You can be courageous.
You can be a valiant knight ― male or female.
Do you see yourself?
And if you go deeper, do you still see yourself?
It is possible that you feel this experience in your whole body. The experience is in you, and at the same time, you are in this memory, which is, as a whole, this experience.
The dragon is you. Everything is you.
Perhaps even the lady in distress, if she happens to be there.
Respect everything and everyone.
Also your most challenging memories.
Related Posts
Mere-Ego ≠ Egoism
Mere-ego creates a narrowed sense of self, which can make egoism more tempting, but it does not automatically lead to selfishness. By shifting from mere-ego to the total self, one naturally moves away from grasping, fear, and competition — toward inner abundance, connection, and the joy of Compassion. Let’s explore how this shift changes everything. Read the full article…
Does Mental Warmth Need Mental Depth?
We all recognize warmth when we feel it. A kind smile, a reassuring voice, the sense that someone truly sees us. Mental warmth gives us a feeling of safety, acceptance, and connection. But does it always come from a place of depth? People can be friendly without being particularly profound. But there’s a difference between Read the full article…
Dreams are Poetry, not Prose
We often think of dreams as if they were puzzles — things to be cracked, interpreted, or explained. But what if that’s not what dreams are for? What if they’re closer to poetry than logic, closer to growth than decoding? This blog explores a radically different way of relating to dreams: one of listening, resonance, Read the full article…