This is a question I began to hold gently when my life seemed to revolve around loss.
One of the discoveries for me was that I was working in what Carl Jung described as the shadow, and learning through the Victim archetype.
Years ago, I would have reacted with anger, even rage, if someone suggested that I had made myself a victim of my loss.
The subtle difference in language matters here. There is a distinction between being a victim and working with and learning from the Victim archetype.
That slight shift in language lifted me out of blame and shame just enough to claim the work and then actually do the work.
In the quiet silence of my heart, I began to sense that there was purpose, learning, and generative weaving happening in my life. I also saw how much I had built an identity around one profound loss and allowed it to define me.
Pain, wherever it comes from and whatever loss created it, carries meaning. When we settle into the heart and view our story through other frameworks such as myth, archetype, and storytelling, something softens. Our reactivity eases.
When we soften and listen from a new conceptual framework, we move into choice.
After nearly ten years of identifying myself through the story of my loss, something shifted. A new perspective emerged. A new weaving began.
Choice is one of our most innate human capacities. Each day presents choice point after choice point, though many days we do not recognize them as such.
Practicing awareness at these choice points and noticing when we surge forward or hold back our energy helps us see more clearly how we are participating in our own lives.
What is the purpose of pain?
Perhaps it is not punishment. Perhaps it is not identity. Perhaps it is an invitation into awareness, into meaning, and ultimately into choice.
What has pain taught you or how is it currently weaving in your life story?
