The Whole Self

Renee Chrystefor

30 Dec 2025 — 1 min read

Our shadow lives quietly, at first, in the background. And as we stuff ourselves into that cultural box, letting go of what doesn't suit society, preparing ourselves for adulthood, conformity, we fill our shadows with more than it can hold.

Then one day - crisis and the ego sustains a huge blow. It's self-containment shattered, and we share our soul with the earthbound creatures, recognize how we felt before and how we feel now. We've woken up from the made-up world - the one we clung to, the one that shaped us. We see it for what it hides, like behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. We now search for meaning as our shadow-self tries to integrate. We are not all we present to the world, we are more. We are here now, outside the box, picking up the pieces, getting to know the whole self.

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Scrabble Challenge - Welcome to Kitten Cove

Backseat shenanigans

A Grandmother's Love

To Give Blood