Lotta Love Through The Shadow Work
How are you feeling out there?
Have feelings of uncertainty, uncomfortableness, or awkwardness gotten so strong you can't tune them out, so you’re tuning-in?
As you move toward these feelings, you’re a little (or a lot) off balance? Still, you keep going forward because you know that's the only way you’ll grow?
If you said, "yes" to any of the above, I feel you!
The uncomfortable truth is, the only way through is deeper in.
While I’ve been feeling all these feelings too, it reminds me of the contemporary psychological term, "Shadow work." The idea, that unless we look inside at what lives in the shadows of our subconscious, then bravely acknowledge what we find there, real growth, and healing won’t happen for us.
When it comes to the shadow work of cultural injustices happening today, it's no different.
Seeing, listening, and acknowledging is the only way for us as a culture to collectively heal.
And it's long overdue.
Which lately has me contemplating my high school years, how I was the only white girl that sat at a lunch table with all black female friends because that’s where I felt most comfortable.
Being included and blending with a different culture gave me a taste of how dynamically amazing life can be when we push past our comfort zones. And this feeling didn't happen without confronting moments of awkwardness and fears.
Crucial to my experience of bonding with my black friends, was to listen, understand, and acknowledge the history and struggles of black people due to the vestiges of slavery. A painful process that initially made me feel sad to be white but woke me up to the incredible possibilities of social change.
When I entered my mid-twenties, I made the choice to move to the island of Kauai for the better part of 12 years and found myself again as the minority in the culture.
What did it feel like? It felt beautiful to be immersed in the uniqueness of the Polynesian culture, to learn the "ohana"—or family way of living, and to understand what “aloha” truly is.
But it also felt difficult because acceptance into the Polynesian culture didn't come easily and gave me a taste of what people of color feel on the daily in America.
As I pushed past fears, asked questions, and learned of the historic injustices upon the Hawaiian people, things made sense. I shed many tears over the years in Hawaii for knowing the beauty of the culture and the atrocities suffered. But, more importantly, I gained understanding and compassion, like my earlier years learning black history.
Opening up and learning is the key. Learning the history, the stories so we can understand our current reality.
These experiences have influenced Imbued’s activism of supporting social and environmental change.
Thank you for being here and being a part of the change too!
Aloha Nui,
Kristin
Chief Creative Instigator of Imbued
P. S. ... Help spread the ethical fashion love by forwarding this to a friend!