"Nature LOVES shells. So I do too! They’re everywhere, and obviously one of her favorite tools — vessels of protection, of germination, of transport, of boundaried wholeness. Very useful stuff when you’re wrangling life in transition all over the place. Seeds, homing pigeon eggs, crabs, plate tectonics, tiny little balls of naked nerve endings, er, I mean, people in falling in love, people growing through grief, people in transitions…. We, like crabs, are growing and growing, finding ourselves uncomfortably encased in armor of our own making that has served a purpose. And at some point, with health, those shells weaken at the seams and begin to let the being inside shine through, temporarily tender around the edges and yet already glowing into its future self. It doesn’t feel safe. It doesn’t feel comfortable. But this is what life is, and does, and we become the splendor on the other side. Where shells don’t crack, darling, no risk, no power, no life."
Where are your shells already straining? Where did some armor fall away? Don’t resist this kind of discomfort, dear one, but support yourself into it, and lean into the shape of the new shell that will grow around you, the bigger one. I have been. It’s a wild and beautiful ride that needs courage and support and love.
Love,
