It has been said that everything which happens to us in life has been brought about by the will of our spiritual self. Sometimes we ask ourselves why is this happening to me? Perhaps it is because some hidden part of our self has chosen it.
“if I am the longest relationship
of my life
isn't it time to
nurture intimacy
and love
with the person
I lie in bed with each night”
― The Sun and Her Flowers
of my life
isn't it time to
nurture intimacy
and love
with the person
I lie in bed with each night”
― The Sun and Her Flowers
“When life comes knockin', it's the heartbroken doo-wop singer who understands regret and the price of loving, the hard-living soul man who understands "I take what I want, I'm a bad go-getter, yeah..." and the Motown divas, men and women, who know you've got to play a little bit of the white man's/rich man's game. You have to make thoughtful compromises that don't sell out your soul, that let you reach just a little bit higher until your moment comes and then you set the rules. This was the credo all along Route 9 and you'd better understand it or else you would die an ugly musical death while risking bodily injury on Saturday night.”
― Born to Run
― Born to Run
“[Self]-distrust manifests blatantly in the judge's reaction to your experiences of expansion. 'Expansion' here refers to situations when you try something new, success at something you're never done before, stop a self-destructive habit, speak up in your own defense, recognize a truth about yourself, take on a new responsibility, and so on. The expansion is a shift in your sense of who you are or who you have taken yourself to be: who you are becomes a little bigger, includes a little more than it did before.
What does the judge do with these moments? Most everyone has experienced some sort of contraction after they expand: some letdown, some fear creeping in, some shame about being bigger, some withdrawal from the expansion. In one sense, this is part of a natural cycle of expansion and contraction. However, the contraction is seldom seen as part of the normal flow of the unfolding soul.”
― Soul Without Shame: A Guide to Liberating Yourself from the Judge Within
What does the judge do with these moments? Most everyone has experienced some sort of contraction after they expand: some letdown, some fear creeping in, some shame about being bigger, some withdrawal from the expansion. In one sense, this is part of a natural cycle of expansion and contraction. However, the contraction is seldom seen as part of the normal flow of the unfolding soul.”
― Soul Without Shame: A Guide to Liberating Yourself from the Judge Within
“You," he said, "are a terribly real thing in a terribly false world, and that, I believe, is why you are in so much pain.”
― The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls
― The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls
“Many people spend their whole lives doing their best to follow the coaching, guidance, and warnings of the inner critic. Society supports this. However, if you choose to pursue inner work--the search for understanding who you are, what your life means, and what reality is--you are by necessity setting yourself directly in conflict with your judge. To explore what you believe, what you experience, why you act and feel the way you do, is to question the authority of the judge. To bring the underpinnings of your psychological reality (how you think and feel) into consciousness means potentially replacing those assumptions and beliefs with direct knowledge. This would mean experiencing that your conscious awareness can begin to take the place of accepted standards and beliefs. Then you don't need to be guided, limited, and controlled by the unconscious through your judge.”
― Soul Without Shame: A Guide to Liberating Yourself from the Judge Within
― Soul Without Shame: A Guide to Liberating Yourself from the Judge Within
Pauline’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Pauline’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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