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Lesson from the Hermit

It is 10:36 P.M. as I type this on my computer. I want to make a report of how the day went. I hope to do this for the duration of my Artist's Way + Tarot journey: to meditate on an essay and a Tarot card in the morning, and then to make a report at night.

As far as the addictions go, I failed in the area of sugar: I have purchased a bottle of sugared soda and only realized I have sworn off sugar while I was guzzling it. I need to be more alert about impulses to consume sugar, and I know that this alertness, this awareness, is a gift of a consistent meditation practice that has been allowed, via osmosis, to seep into everyday life. An Awareness that is there even when I'm not sitting and observing my breath.

Progress, not perfection, I gently remind myself now.

I read through the Book of Patch's entry on the Hermit and one paragraph popped out at me. It said: "Take the time to meditate with the intention of going deep into your psyche, and keep traveling deeper! You may find aspects of your shadow self that will be uncomfortable at first, and you may want to turn back. Keep digging, keep growing, and keep expanding within your emotional, mental, and spiritual body."

There's that word: shadow.

Tonight, as I prepare to sleep, I shall take some time to meditate, and wrap my Shadow Artist, that part of myself that has suffered in shame and self-bludgeoning for so long, with compassion and acceptance. Yes, I have been a shadow artist. Yes, it's been painful. I won't blame anyone or anything. But I will sit here and face and embrace my shadow artist, as it is a part of me. The Hermit says, "The deeper you dive into the darkness, the more you emerge into light."

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