How accepting am I of who I am?
How hungry am I for transformation?
Can I be fully both – accepting and hungry?
How committed am I to maintaining who I am versus being more whole / healed or conscious / awake or authentic?
Am I willing to sacrifice current “happiness / unhappiness”, and do difficult personal work, for greater wholeness, consciousness, and authenticity?
Am I willing to find happiness in doing difficult personal work, or is happiness something that is separate from these difficult challenges?
Am I aware of the part(s) of me that want to “keep me safe”, avoid suffering and engaging in difficult work?
Am I aware of the part(s) of me that wants to protect the story of my family and avoid deep inquiry into childhood and ancestral trauma?
Do I blindly trust my “inner guidance” when it is likely that protective / defensive parts of me will influence that guidance in the name of keeping me “safe” rather than entering the unknown?
Are my heart, head, and spirit guidance in alignment, or am I conflicted? Which part(s) of me is a truer and more courageous compass?
Am I willing to acknowledge that I am often “blind”, and sometimes willfully blind, to how I protect and defend myself and thus avoid difficult personal work?
Am I willing to acknowledge that I can benefit from what others can see in me that I don’t see or want to acknowledge in myself? Do I seek this perspective?
Am I willing to acknowledge that this difficult work is best done in community?
Am I willing to reveal, in candid detail; the specific issues I’m working on, the processes I’m using, the struggles I’m encountering, and the changes I’m making when doing “mucky” personal work?
When others reveal their deep personal work do I listen, support, and consider that I have similar issues, or am I uncomfortable?
When considering being open and vulnerable about my “mucky” personal work do I; fear revealing weakness, feel less than, feel pride, fear losing status, fear rejection, or feel too seen / visible?
Do I recognize that these feelings pull me from greater authenticity, self-acceptance and point to additional work, especially on shame, to be done?
Is it time to bring greater openness, candour, vulnerability and detail of the traumas we face, and the work we are doing, to our companions?
To bring the messy work of authenticity out of the therapist’s closet?
Am I willing to walk this path and inspire this way?