Labyrinth Insights

I walk my labyrinth everyday. The beauty of the labyrinth is that it enhances whatever intention you set. Once I got an upsetting phone call, so I walked my labyrinth and calmed down. Sometimes I'm feeling a bit lethargic, so I walk my labyrinth to feel more energetic. I walk it to have a restful sleep or to gain insights into a problem I'm having. Sometimes I just walk with no intention but to enjoy the walk; and that becomes a meditation in itself.

I was thinking about a friend-of-a-friend I don't even know. She's stuck in a pattern of destructive behaviour, unwilling to acknowledge a drinking problem. Deeper than the drinking that she thinks is under control and a secret from people around her, is the secret that prompts her to try to escape and anesthisize herself with alcohol. I don't know what that secret is specifically, but this is the insight I got about secrets:

We keep secrets about ourselves because we hold shame in that area. We hold onto shame because we are afraid of what other people would think if they knew that secret. I'm not suggesting that we broadcast the gory details of our lives to everyone everywhere. [side note here: I was in a rooming situation with 3 other people for a weekend retreat. The teacher told us to meet up in our rooms and figure out sleeping arrangements. One woman launched into a horrifying childhood story about why she was there and we were all just sitting there stunned. Yikes! I thought this was about who wanted to sleep by the window, I said.] There's an appropriate time and place and person to confide in.

The thing about shame is that it keeps you stuck in the past, being held in the darkness by past patterns and programming. What is the point in not feeling good about yourself? Who does that serve? Marianne Williamson says that we are powerful beyond measure, and it is our Light, not our darkness, that we are afraid of. When we shine the Light onto those shameful parts of ourselves, we find healing. We integrate those fragmented parts into ourselves and we become whole. We heal what we are willing to reveal.