The Shadow Side of Sunflower

May 17, 2019 1 Comment

The Shadow Side of Sunflower

Sometimes when I think about sharing my ideas, my truth if you like, I feel an intense squirming and uncomfortable energy in my belly.

I feel it when I am nervous. I feel it when I am wallowing in self-doubt and when my ego feels under attack or vulnerable. I also feel it strongly when I have allowed my energetic boundaries to be breached.

I believe that if we think the world is a fearful, scary place, filled with predators and prey, scrambling for limited resources, deadly diseases and evil at every turn trying to get us, then that’s what it will be.

The world may very well come to an end if we continually align with the stories and the fear the media is feeding us.

I believe in the power of the collective consciousness and the individual within to rewrite this story.

We rewrite this story through exquisite self care and cultivation of self love, through tender self-compassion and forgiveness, and by connecting with our hearts and inner child and gratefully embracing all the joy in our lives.

We rewrite this story by remembering we are all connected, not just with other humans, but with all beings, all life in this planet and beyond.

We rewrite this story by doing the work!

And this is where Sunflower comes in.

Sunflower asks us to embrace our unique magnificent selves and understand that we EACH HAVE a unique story to bring to the world. She is standing behind me, and within me, infusing me with the confidence to shine my own unique light. And I know deeply that part of my purpose in this life is to be a beacon of light, joy, and hope in a world that is suffering greatly.   

And so the shadow side of Sunflower asks then, how can I radiate that love, that light, that hope that I feel without casting a shadow on another’s sacred process which only creates a great deal more harm and suffering all round? Not my intention at all!

Sunflower is asking me to examine the polarity of feeling powerful or powerless and how the ego is involved, and triggered, at both ends of this spectrum.

My knee jerk response is to hide! Dim my light. Not Sunflower at all! So I have to dig deeper...examining my ego and how I can find the confidence to shine that inspires others perhaps, warms them, encourages their growth without interfering with their process.  

This is about holding space for another. Witnessing and acknowledging them and consciously slowing down my impulse and desire to “help”, to force them into my light, because I know deeply it truly does not help.

Instead it unconsciously and unintentionally transmits the message that the other person is broken and needs fixing.

It actually attacks and breaches their personal power to do the sacred work of healing themselves, and growing.  Their ego will be triggered. And then, most likely, so will mine. When the ego is wounded, or rejected, it tends to create new stories of pain and hurt and victimization, that only serve to perpetuate the suffering!! Again, not my intention at all!

And so Sunflower is asking me to move beyond the polarities of right and wrong, good and bad, to instead find the sacred middle ground where everyone benefits. Where the ego can support our divine purpose on this planet and not destroy it.

This is hard work! I am humbled by this work of becoming.

And my heart is filled with tender compassion and forgiveness for my humanity, my fragility and my loving heart and soul, and indeed every heart and soul out there—all trying to remember who they are.

Dig deeper with Sunflower (CONFIDENCE) here.



1 Response

Heidi Symonds
Heidi Symonds

May 22, 2019

Thank you so much for your sacred work! I can feel Sunflower rippling and swelling in my heart and solar plexus. Thank you for your bravery and for showing us the way! Deep, deep now to you friend. <3 xo

Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.


Also in Plant Spirit Deep Dives

White Pine: Response Ability
White Pine: Response Ability

November 17, 2023 1 Comment

This is my work—growing my response ability to the world around me—so that I can contribute and support the whole from a place rooted in wisdom, love and unity consciousness, rather than from a place of reaction, guilt and unexpressed pain. Having a place of sanctuary and calm within may make all the difference for peace to prevail in the world

Continue Reading

Unconditional Love has No Boundaries
Unconditional Love has No Boundaries

October 12, 2023 1 Comment

In order to maintain strong boundaries then we have to constantly tap into what we are feeling and the stories we tell ourselves to explain our feelings. Shame and fear are energies that close our hearts. Gratitude and grief however are transformational energies that open our hearts to life and to all that we are.

Continue Reading

Campanula: On Belonging
Campanula: On Belonging

September 21, 2023

We are constantly judging and evaluating who belongs and who doesn’t on this polarity planet. Who is worthy or acceptable or successful, and who isn’t? And this applies not only to humans but also to animals, insects and plants—everyone and everything. Good or bad?

Continue Reading