IFS and Springtime: Possibility for Growth

It’s still possible to fully understand

you have always been the place

where the miracle has happened:

that you have been since your birth,

the bread given and the wine lifted,

the change witnessed and the change itself,

that you have secretly been, all along,

a goodness that can continue

to be a goodness to itself.

-David Whyte – “Still Possible”

Possibilities for Growth

I now more deeply understand that what occurs in the outer world often mirrors our own inner worlds. Some have compared the internal processes to the changing of the seasons. I think that this comparison is a helpful way to view how we grow along our respective journeys. During the springtime, I often find myself naturally reflecting on the ways in which I’ve grown, both qualitatively and quantitatively, and the answers that emerge often surprise me. I consider the space that has opened up within my system as a result of parts (i.e. thoughts, emotions, beliefs) softening.

Perhaps some of the things that used to baffle me now seem a little bit easier. This could be even 10-15% easier in quantitative terms. I know that the more pessimistic and critical parts of my system may minimize this sense of growth, and I can have compassion for them too. These parts often want to see more obvious and greater amounts of growth in my life. They want things to be fixed and solved within me so that life will feel easier.

What I have come to realize, though, is that growth is not always so linear and not always as obvious as flowers popping up out of the earth in springtime. As I slow things down a bit, I start to realize that the 10-15% change opens up a space to experience a sense of goodness that certain parts thought was impossible (i.e. a miracle). In actual fact, the possibility of a miracle has been there all along, residing within my Core Self. It is the anchored state within me that cannot be affected by trauma and grief and it readily offers healing to the wounded parts of my system by way of compassion.

During this season of springtime, I invite you to consider the ways in which you have grown and continue to grow; maybe in ways that defy some of the expectations that your more pessimistic and critical parts hold. I truly believe that any amount of growth is meant to be celebrated, because it is a sign that we are connecting with the deeper sense of goodness (i.e. The Core Self) that has resided within us all along. This inner process reveals how the world’s winter dormancy can give way to a springtime of possibilities.

Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on  Unsplash