Your shadow isn't a problem. It's a part you sent away to survive.

You didn't lose your "shadow".

You put it away.

Not because you were a victim.

But because at that time, it made sense.

It was a decision made from instinct-

to keep yourself safe, accepted, protected,

loved.

That's what the "shadow" really is:

Not evil. Not darkness. Not something to conquer.

It's the collection of everything you learned to hide

in order to stay in connection.

The raw grief.

The fierce hunger.

The anger that was actually wisdom.

The parts of you that were too bold, too tender,

too alive

for the people around you to understand.

They weren't villains.

They were doing their best.

They had their own shadows, too.

You were all just playing roles passed down

like inheritance.

But eventually, you reach a point in your life

where surviving no longer feels like enough.

You want to return.

To gather the pieces.

To remember the full spectrum of yourself-

even the parts you once feared would cost

you love.

The shadow doesn't need to be fixed.

It needs to be honored.

I needs your hand,

your presence,

your choice to say:

"I see you now.

Not as a flaw-

but as a part of my original wholeness."

This is not about blaming those who shaped you.

It's about realizing that you have always

had the power

to choose what parts come home.

Not everything that shaped you was your fault.

But everything you reclaim now is your responsibility.

And that...

is what makes you free.