Inner Companionship

 

       We are companioned beings – never really alone.  There are “people” inside us.

 

       Within us, there is a wise, loving presence, whose stance toward us is compassionate and spacious.  This aspect of our consciousness makes room for everything we feel and everything we experience.  It accepts us and values us.  It invites friendship and connection.  And, because its voice is quiet, we need to listen carefully and remind ourselves often of its love.

 

       Most of us also experience a judging presence, an internal critic whose job is to find fault with us and to invite us to feel small, unworthy, inadequate and disconnected.  The critic’s message is often blunt and bludgeoning, like a sledgehammer.  And, sometimes, it’s sneaky and subtle, like a stiletto.  

 

       From the standpoint of brain functioning, inner conversations can be understood as neural pathways – habits that grow stronger with repetition.  For example, most of us have had years of practicing self-judgment.  And, while that pathway is well established and easy to follow, we can consciously tune into and nurture a more life-affirming inner conversation. 

 

       We pick our friends.  Why not also choose whom we’d like for inner companionship?