In our inner world, we have an entire system, which we might not be fully aware of, that allows us to navigate the human experience.
We can easily see some of our wounded parts through the emotional reactions they provoke, through the seemingly insurmountable blockages we encounter, through the repetitive patterns we struggle to break free from, and so on.
There is another type of inner parts that are there to protect us.
The superpower they offer: denial.
When we experience an emotional shock that overwhelms us, a part of us is fragmented and holds on to some of the emotional burden of what we’ve been through, to protect us.
In the most sensitive cases, a part of us takes on the role of a guardian, a protective part: it blocks access to this wounded part.
At our level, we are in denial.
We are unable to become aware of the wound we carry, the severity of what we have experienced, and its impact on us.
It’s a powerful way of protecting ourselves.
People can even talk to us directly about it, to us it's a non-issue. The defense mechanisms are well built, and the automatic responses are deeply ingrained: “well, it was not that bad”, “it’s not the end of the world”, and the classic “it could have been worse.”
Denial is not a bad thing, even if it can be baffling when we see it in others. It protects us from what we are not yet capable of handling emotionally. It’s a gift.
And the day we are ready, the door opens.
We become aware.
We integrate, we process.
And we can heal, transmute, transcend, grow, change, evolve.
This may happen in multiple layers for the deepest wounds, and take time. Having support in this process is sometimes necessary, and the beauty of navigating multidimensionally and connecting with these wounded and protective parts allows us to do it gently. The emotion is there, yes, but we don’t need to be overwhelmed by the intensity of the initial emotion to reintegrate our wounded part; it can be done gently.
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