On Protection

It is a temporary, and vital strategy to cover a wound with a bandage.
While we are so raw, so vulnerable, it is imperative to protect ourselves, to protect others, and to accept protection from further injury until the process of healing seals the wound. If we are not protected in these crucial moments, we will not really heal. As we gain strength and integrity, we must slowly begin to expose these wounds to the air again.

If we continue to bandage our unhealed spaces, over time, we end up causing far more damage by not allowing integration of the elements to help us heal and strengthen. What is beneath the bandage rots, and our wise immune systems continually attack infection after infection, creating more and more layers of scar tissue, trying desperately, sometimes to the end, to bring us back to our healing.

This is as true for the soul as it is for the body.
When I hear spiritually minded folk talk about protection as though it is not needed, I am reminded how the current new age philosophy tends to negate the needs of the present day body. Protection is something that is very much needed for the part of us that is wounded. Taking time to protect, to change the dressings, to check in on the process, inviting in the needed support, creating a needed boundary are all part of taking responsibility for your needs. The point at which protection is no longer serving requires response.

Without due care, we create undo suffering and retraumatization.

Be here with yourself, now.