The Journey Inward

stress, anxiety, hypervigilance, surviving, people pleasing
closed, critical, skeptical, fearful, intimidated
holding tight, being strong, sarcastic
false bravado, stiff upper lip
fake, snarky, poser
false self

true self
open, joyful, true
peace, harmony, intuition
balanced, vulnerable, equilibrium
feeling, letting go, detaching, relaxing, being
accepting, loving, trusting, honest, authentic, thriving

At my writing workshop a few nights ago, we discussed False and True Selves. One of our mentor texts was the poem “False Identity,” by Sheila Burns. She refers to an hourglass and that image inspired me to doodle one in my notebook and just start inserting words that characterize my false and true selves. I then set to work creating a poem that would envelop the hourglass shape and show the false self disappearing and trickling down, day by day, into my truest Self.