Shadow Work Is Cool Until Your Inner Child Starts Talking Shit
A healing journey in three acts: tantrums, teenage rebellion, and your higher self drinking wine in the corner.
INTRO: So You Want to Heal, Huh?
You bought the journal. You lit the candle. You whispered, "I’m ready to do the work."
And then suddenly your inner child popped up like: "Oh really, bitch? Let’s talk about 1987."
Welcome to shadow work, where you dig through the basement of your psyche and find out your younger self has notes. This is less "Eat Pray Love" and more "Eat Cry Yell."
PART I: The Inner Child Has Entered the Chat
You thought it would be all softness and coloring pages. You were wrong.
Your 6-year-old self wants to know why you never stood up to that 3rd grade bully.
Your 10-year-old self is pissed you stopped dancing.
Your 12-year-old self just wants a damn hug… but also might bite you.
You try to comfort them, but they’re like emotionally volatile ghosts with Lisa Frank stickers.
Science side note: These aren’t hallucinations. They’re fragments of memory and neural pathways that got locked in when your brain was still squishy and dramatic.
PART II: Your Teen Self Wants to Dye Your Hair and Start a Riot
Just when you think you’ve made peace with baby you, in swaggers 15-year-old you, reeking of Freesia body spray and rebellion.
She’s mad you married that one guy.
She’s mad you let your creative fire go out.
She’s mad you cut bangs without her permission.
Suddenly you’re blasting Alanis and making Pinterest boards titled "Reclaiming My Feral Bitch Era."
What’s happening: This is your psyche reminding you of your lost fire. That fierce, messy, IDGAF energy? It wasn’t immaturity. It was instinct.
PART III: Meanwhile, Your Higher Self Is Sipping Tea and Judging You
Higher Self doesn’t yell. She doesn’t scold. She just sips her damn tea, raises one brow, and says, "'Bout fucking time."
She already forgave everyone. She already did the work. She’s just wondering how long you’re gonna keep re-reading your ex’s texts and calling it "closure."
Real talk: Shadow work doesn’t replace your Higher Self. It feeds her. You don’t become more spiritual by ignoring your mess—you become whole by sitting in it until it stops feeling like quicksand and starts feeling like compost for your souls growth.
CLOSING: Integration is Not Sexy (But Damn, It’s Powerful)
Shadow work is less like a moonlit ceremony and more like emotional plumbing. It’s messy. It smells weird. Sometimes you find shit you forgot existed.
But when you do it with humor and honesty? That’s where the healing happens.
So go ahead. Give your inner child a juice box. Let your teen self pick the playlist. And let your Higher Self drive the car—but only after you’ve all agreed on snacks.