the archeologist & the sculptor (13:52)

Here I unpack two metaphors for the spiritual healing process - that of an archeologist extracing a T-Rex skeleton from a hillside, and of a sculptor carving a statue from a block of marble.

What I like about these metaphors is, they portray the process more as a revelation than a creation from scratch, which I find truer to the process.

Another thing I like is, it accounts for difficulties in the experience. We are not merely the glorious skeleton or gorgeous sculpture emerging into the moment. We are also the dirt being blasted and brushed away, we are the marble being painstakingly separated from the embedded sculpture's form. We are at once being born and dying, at once being created and destroyed. From the broadest perspective, we are also the archeologist & sculptor & the tools they use. Our consciousness can bounce between these different perspectives - the product, the removed excess, the operator - which can be awe-inspiring & disorienting. It's all in the process! As the process becomes difficult, refer back to these metaphors to reframe and honor the experience.

https://youtu.be/L8PuOPpyicU