Photo Credit: Alt National Park & Forest Service.* Thank you to the Facebook page, ‘Ancient Forests and Champion Trees,’ for sharing the image and therefore bringing it to my attention.
_________________________
Nature has so much to teach us. I love this visual reminder of the beauty — and absolute necessity — of clear personal boundaries.
We need boundaries for our very survival. No one but ourselves can erect and protect our own boundaries.
Boundaries protect our emotional truth, our spirituality, our intellect and curiosity, our self-esteem, our physicality/personal space, our sexuality, our finances, our goals and aspirations, our creativity and self-expression and anything else we must protect in the service of loving our Self.
Toxic parenting trains children to give up their boundaries in service of the needs of one or both parents. Healing psychological wounds from childhood means listening to and loving all of our wounded child ‘parts’, taking care of them properly as they were not cared for properly in the past, and re-learning how to erect and protect personal boundaries in service of ourselves, in service of our growth.
We may also need to learn how to respect others’ boundaries if this is not something we have been taught.
We have a responsibility to thrive and to grow. For when we do so, we show others they can also. Of course, this is not my idea alone. Marianne Williamson writes about this beautifully, here.
I’m sending you my heartfelt wishes for recovery from your childhood. May you develop good boundaries. May you respect others’ boundaries. May you grow strong and thrive. May you prosper beyond your wildest dreams.
Yours,
Annie.
_________________________
*”Crown shyness” is a naturally occurring phenomenon in some tree species where the uppermost branches in a forest canopy avoid touching one another. The visual effect is striking as it creates clearly defined borders.
Rebel Recovery 