Why it’s important to embrace every diverse feature of your inner landscape.
Imagine yourself as an archipelago. You’re a chain of 100 islands, and each one is an aspect of you. Take in the view from above: at a distance, each link in your necklace of atolls appears identical. Yet, as you descend, tracing the curve of your personal enclaves, you might be surprised. Your islands are wildly diverse, some pleasant, others less so. Choose one, move closer still, and wade through its gently lapping waves onto the shore.
You’re on a beach, with palm trees, a pleasant breeze and warm sand. Here is your island of sunshine – it’s the place from which you launch your love for others. This land displays your generous and giving nature. It’s the paradise island where everyone wants to be.
Then, look, there’s another. A beach enclosed with coves and cliffs, where the trees provide cover from the elements and an old shack gives you shelter. There, you retreat to light a fire and watch the stars. It’s your island of quietness, the part of you that keeps the world at bay while you commune with yourself. It’s calm and secret – and can’t be found on any map.
But, over here, yet another. A gathering of rocks around an inhospitable shore, assailed by piercing winds and battered by waves. This place is darkened by clouds, rain-washed and lightning-raked, with a soundtrack of mournful gulls. These islands are your fear and rage, manifesting as ungenerous impulses, meanness, and spite.
It’s tempting to deny these unpleasant aspects or else decry them as unworthy of the person you want to be. If only that ugly cluster of rocks could be sunk, you’d be perfect. It’s a tantalising thought, but it’s wrong. Because the place where nobody wants to be is part of you, and if you look at your archipelago from above, you’ll see that it’s an important part of the landscape of you.
The only problem is one of perspective: a tendency either to minimise or maximise the influence of these islands on your life. You might not, understandably, relish your own fear or rage, but acknowledging these emotions and recognising how they make themselves apparent is essential to viewing yourself as unbroken. So rise up, look down at your island chain, and embrace it as a whole – the sunny sands, the rain-drenched shore, and everything in between.
How to reframe your emotional landscape
- Recognise that the archipelago of you contains many islands, all of which belong in the whole.
- Tend to each one with equal love and care.
- During a stay on your sun-drenched beach or secret bay, relish each moment because they are essential.
- Likewise, recognise that time on those jagged rocks is also necessary. Understand how they show themselves in your life. They may – or may not – indicate a burden to be dropped.
- If ever your stay in one place feels too long, remember that there are 100 islands in your chain. With time, you’ll discover each jewelled oasis that exists within you.v
