Accepting the shadow self

[Aleksi]

Well, it probably would help to determine if the voice IS your own, or another seemingly so.

This discernment is mentioned, that one may note thoughts that do not appear to stem from the self.  Albeit in this instance thoughts are the voices we're discussing.

I might be getting a bit fantastical here, but I do believe in nature spirits, or basically what some might call nymphs and fairies.  I have experienced a water nymph in my own pool, fire wisps aka salamanders and sylphs when I was younger, and overall I now find some fields of grass, trees, and areas of trees have these types of entities associated sometimes.  Even cacti and bushes or beds of flowers.

Nature is very alive, I think if the thoughts sit well with you and provide you happiness or peace, then you can react to them without worry.  Its when things get dark and 'heavy' that you should just sit with it rather than react so as not to give in or deny it, to listen and know without doing, to be a rock and not to roll, to let yourself be transparent and let the waves of heaviness pass right through you unmoving you.

So, it may be an external voice of a spirit guide, or of a resident loving nature spirit.

It could also just be your own voice masking itself, as they do so well.  My voices mask themselves with many identities.  The victim, the offended, the oppressed, the disgusted, but also in many good ways as if to be silly and playful, the lover, the admirer, the awed, the starry eyed wondrous one, the contentful, the optimistic, the cheery, the cutesy, the happy laugher, the joker, the teaser.

So, its up to you to discover if the voice is you or not, but if you want my advice on a sort of shortcut through confusion...

All the voices are you in another style of uniqueness and various distortions and circumstances.  You should treat them how you'd want to be treated.  If you're upset and all down, try to cheer yourself up.  If you're happy and loving, bask in that joy.  If you're losing it (like I occasionally do), then sit with it until you've calmed down, try not to react, its okay if you do, but its much easier on your nervous system if you respond with stillness.  Its much easier on your mind, body, emotions.

Especially if you have despairing thoughts and such.  Don't give up, there's a way through, enjoy the good, help the down, sit with the mad, praise the fearful.

We've all got those voices inside of us, they've all got those things they think and feel, and you are made up of all of that.  You are them, they are you, work with them and they'll work with you.

Cheer up your sad voice, or offer it comfort.
Thank your happy voice.
Guide your scared voice.
Encourage your uncertain voice towards certainty.
Remind your doubt of your intended outcome.
Let your sadness flow but don't get swept away by it for too long.

Life is an amalgam of consciousness.  We're so much more than just one, we're also many.  Sometimes there's confusion with that.

I think irrelevancy can deny circumstantially relevant associations, so don't worry too much.  Just try to be the best you that you want to be, and realize there's no failure in not being able to do that, since you always get another chance.  In some new way in a different time, but it will come around.

So, I don't know lol, I just want you to not be scared.  You have your own self power, you can choose to do good and not do bad, regardless of the thoughts/voices you may hear.

You can be an observor, you can be the rock that doesn't roll.  The picturesque tree in the portrait, the focus, or the background.

When it comes to matters of working with the self, it seems important to not be worried and swept away in the vast macrocosmic being of our internal microcosmic selves.  Infinity has a lot going on, so its okay to take things one thing at a time. What's the rush? Lol

Thank you very much for such a long reply. It has in many ways been a challenging day but quite soon it is time to sleep and I feel I've made much progress. I do have a tendency to try and run into the arms of the Creator because I feel very strongly even the smallest pains of existence, but I think one of today's biggest pains regarding an ex girlfriend was by proxy caused by my hurry, worry and perfectionism so the ending of your post resonates with me.