Meeting the part of you that learned this
A monthly journal invitation for those living with estrangement
Quick reminder that next Thursday (July 23rd at 7pm BST/11am PDT/2pm EST) I will be discussing the experience of difficult mother-daughter relationships with Rita Hoy - Motherance and the tools she uses to help estranged people in her coaching. Anyone can listen live. Register here. Paid subscribers will receive a recording.
Over the past few months, I have been inviting paid subscribers to engage in a monthly journaling exercise to offer the practical support that many of my readers have been asking for.
Our journal prompts to date have been:
What led up to the estrangement, as I experienced it?
What do I not feel “allowed” to feel?
Tailored prompts to discover our negative beliefs.
Exploring those beliefs and gently questioning them.
Following a belief down to its root - the belief beneath the belief.
Last month we took time to delve deeply into ourselves. We took a single belief and followed it, asking repeatedly, “if this is true, what does it mean about me?” until we reached something older and more fundamental. For many of you, what surfaced there will have felt familiar. Something you have carried for a long time. Perhaps something you first felt as a child.
That is a tender and challenging place to have left things. For that reason, this month, we are not going to dig any deeper. We are going to turn back towards whatever we found there and meet it with compassion.
Estrangement asks an enormous amount of us. Whether you initiated the cut off or were cut off, you have likely spent a great deal of energy explaining yourself, defending your choices, or wondering what you did wrong. There is often very little kindness left over for ourselves. This month is an invitation to offer some of it back. To treat ourselves like a dear loved one.
Paid subscribers continue below for this week’s guided journal practice, including the prompt, writing guidance and reflections. As always, I will continue to provide a free post next week for all subscribers.
If you would like to participate in the journaling series then upgrade your membership below.
