I received this recently from a client/reader:

“Licia, Blessings to you on your path as you have shown so many how to look inside and not be afraid of what they see.”

Absolutely! Our inner life has such treasures to discover!

I love the the Wizard of Oz theme of wandering far and wide, only to return home to discover the goodness was there all along…God knows I have done the same.  Whether in my yearly solo vision quests in the desert, my lifelong search for answers to the conundrums of consciousness, or the 10 year spiritual journey with my family, I have LOTS of experience in this department. I am a well-seasoned traveler.

The greatest journeys I have undertaken, however, have been those journeys inside of myself.  I plumbed the depth of my consciousness, retrieved treasures from the bottom of inner oceans (where I found my power, by the way), swam in subterranean seas with mysterious blind, empathic creatures, explored the darkness of deep caverns, feeling my way with my hands outstretched and attuning to my inner senses.  Oh, the things those creatures have whispered to me, the wisdom and relics I have found.  

But I get it….most folks are scared shitless to undergo that journey.  They go weak in the knees at the thought of what may lay in wait if they turn an eye inward, quaking in their boots. They are scared of what they will find…maybe the worst thing EVER…that they aren’t lovable.

Well, I understand the impulse to run away from what scares you.  I also understand that we can really, really buy into the messages we are taught (as children and as adults) that there is something wrong with us, that we are inherently flawed, and that we should repress, ignore, stuff or eliminate those parts of ourselves that folks don’t like.  Exclusion of said parts would make us acceptable, would ensure that we survive and are loved.  That we belong.

And, as every courageous person that has done shadow work knows, those repressed parts are where our genius lay.  Our true Original Design, our inherent creativity, our playfulness, generosity and joy, and our personal power are intimately tied to those things we have lashed cement boots to and tried to sink to the bottoms of our consciousness.

They never go away, you know….they are alive and well down there, waving their arms and sending little air bubble messages to the sunlit surface of our lives. “Bring me home, I have wonderful things to share with you, I know some things.”  Those times you’ve sabotaged yourself right at the boundary of success?  That was those parts of you that you’ve disowned, saying “Not without me you don’t.  I am PART of you, and you need to bring me along.”

The practical side of me (I AM a Taurus, after all) finally said…”WELL, there’s no way out but through,” and rolled up my sleeves and got to work.  That was 26 years ago.  I got hooked early because I noticed right away that being compassionate and kind towards myself felt like SANITY, and trying to kill off parts of myself felt like INSANITY (and like the nasty behaviors that got me in trouble in the first place.)   OH, be inclusive and loving towards me, no matter what scary thing I find?  Kind of like God?  And love transforms it?  I am SO IN.

SO, I became a Inner Guide of sorts, and a Map-Maker.  I know the routes, the rewarding views, the landmarks and the pitfalls, and I know the dangers of traveling just so far and thinking you have “done the inner journey”.   I know which equipment to pack and which to leave behind.  I know the Gate Keepers of the realms, and am on good terms with them (everything we do is in relationship, did you know that?)  While each of our own individual psychic landscapes is somewhat different, the themes (and the travel smarts) are always the same.

Traveling the inner landscape has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done (right next to having the daily working medium of my intimate partner and children).  What an epic journey I have had…and one that each of us can take in the unexplored, fascinating territory of our own psyche!

I feel that is the internal journey I am here to share, and to guide you to take. I chronicled my early travels in my 2012 book, SOUL COMPOST, and am now writing the book that describes my Inner Tribe ™ work in I Am Her Daughter: Self Mothering as a Path to Empowerment.

The Frontier Inside – Navigating the Inner path to Personal Power

I’m also hosting a 3-day The Frontier Inside women’s retreat in Tucson AZ in October along these same lines, as well as The Frontier Inside Teleclass!    Join me to learn from a seasoned guide how to successfully navigate your inner territory and mine the gems of your Original Design...your gifts, strengths and special powers!

And so, may I suggest that you try my mantra on for a day (or a lifetime?)

There’s no place like home (inside)….there’s no place like home (inside)…

xo,

Licia