151: Parts of Me, Parts of Her

Very often our relationship to the world is, in some way, a projection of the inner relationships between the different parts of ourselves. And, just as often, our experience of others is really a projection of some part of us. All of this can very much get in the way of our being in full and truthful contact with what's outside us. This episode of Turning Towards Life is a conversation about how we might become more skilful at letting go of the grip our inner parts have over our experience - and in doing so how we can find a way to more fully see and appreciate the parts of ourselves and others that less often get our attention, with Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

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 watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. We’re also on YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google and Spotify. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website.

Our source for this week is written by Justin:

Parts of me, Parts of Her

It increasingly occurs to me
That my relationship to the world
Is most often a reflection
Of the relationships between parts of myself.

It helps me to remember
That I often see in other people
That of myself that I
Fear, am ashamed of, or have learned to hide away

That there are other inner relationships I can call on
The parts of me
that are settled when I’m anxious,
that love when I’m irritated,
that are courageous and able to take action
when other parts of me are paralysed with fear.

When I’m bewildered by her rage, to remember
to stay in relationship with the part of her that is love;
when I’m frustrated by his uncertainty
to remember the part of him that is clarity;

And that my certainty that she’s judging me
might well be the part of me that judges myself
that my need to rescue him
is often the part of me that itself longs to be rescued

And that until I learn to see though
my ways of pushing away and judging and projecting my interior world
I can expect to have a tricky time
loving the outer world, in which I live every day,
as fully as I could.

Justin Wise, www.justinwise.co.uk

Photo by Roselyn Tirado on Unsplash