430: Undividing Ourselves

We tend to divide our experience into two parts, which we usually name ‘good’ and ‘bad’. And we do so for good reason - to belong in our family systems and communities, to keep a particular image or identity going, because we are afraid of who and what we will be if we let love, or joy, or anger, or longing touch us. But the cost is high - in realness, in our capacity to bringing our gifts to the world, in our fully taking up the possibilities of this one precious life. So how might we welcome and re-include that which has been split off? And how might we do so in a way that is life-giving, mature, and responsive to our cares, concerns and commitments?

This week's Turning Towards Life is hosted as always by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

Episode Overview
00:00 Welcoming 2026: A New Beginning
02:45 Exploring the Soul: Care and Reclamation
05:37 The Complexity of Anger: Embracing Our Emotions
08:53 Curiosity and Connection: Tending to Our Souls
11:46 The Journey to Wholeness: Integrating Rejected Parts
14:43 Realness in Relationships: The Value of Authenticity
17:53 The Power of Curiosity: Transforming Reactions into Growth
20:55 Nurturing Wholeness: The Role of Care in Soul Work
23:39 The Gift of Realness: Embracing Our True Selves

This is Turning Towards Life, a weekly live 30 minute conversation hosted by Thirdspace in which Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn dive deep into big questions of human living. Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast in all the usual podcast places.

Here's our source for this week:

Undividing Ourselves

We all tend to divide experience into two parts, usually the good and the bad. But there may be all kinds of suspicious things going on in this splitting. We may simply have never considered the value in certain things we reject. Or by branding certain experiences as negative, we may be protecting ourselves from some unknown fears. We are all filled with biases and ideas that have snuck into us without our knowing it. Much soul can be lost in such splitting, so that care of the soul can go a long way simply by recovering some of this material that has been cut off.

From ‘Care of the Soul’ by Thomas More

Photo by Mario Gogh on Unsplash

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About Turning Towards Life
Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify.

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