What if there was no part of ourselves that was too shameful, ugly and unlovable to be welcomed home? I want to weave a world where we can bring our most our impossible-to-hold parts to our intimates, to have them listened to, and loved. Not fixed, denied, reassured, soothed, transformed or shamed. Welcomed. Cherished. For many years, in monthly rituals I co-create with dear friends Tricia Bowler and MJ Haines, we have taken turns offering each other the experience of having a problematic part of ourselves welcomed home. Over time, the embodied experience of being welcomed in my unlovable parts has deepened my capacity for intimacy, and self-intimacy. I don’t have to leave parts of myself out of awareness, or out of relationship, because they need to be hidden, fixed, or changed to make me more loveable. I can better see the harmful impacts of my different parts, when I am not trying to hide and deny them. I can better imagine a world in which no one is too lost, ugly or shameful to be welcomed home. “Welcome Home” has become a key principle and a practice that informs all my work and play. Together with dear friends and colleagues West and Noah Klöze, I offered a webinar where we demo and discuss “Welcome Home”. It is part of the SSEA’s 2022 webinar series. The Welcome Home Ritual is part of my online teaching on the art and science of sacred intimacy, and videos of clothed and unclothed versions are included in the program!
