In life one cannot awaken often enough the sense of a beginning within oneself. There is so little external change needed for that since we actually transform the world from within our hearts. If the heart longs for nothing but to be new and unlimited, the world is instantly the same as on the day of its creation and infinite.*
Rainer Maria Rilke
When one is home in oneself, one is integrated and enjoys a sense of balance and poise. In a sense that is exactly what spirituality is: the art of homecoming.**
John O’Donohue
Trauma is anything that separates us from our true self.
In this way we may all understand ourselves to be working through trauma.
Rather than avoiding our trauma, facing it brings the possibility of reuniting with our heart, out of which come new beginnings.
Yes, we will need guides, but within each of us is the truest guide: ourselves. We only need to hear this true self beneath he others.
*From Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters on Life;
**From John O’Donohue’s Benedictus.
THIN|SILENCE 
Your entries bring this quote to mind.
“We think that if we just meditated enough or jogged enough or ate perfect food, everything would be perfect. But from the point of view of someone who’s awake, that’s death. Seeking security or perfection, rejoicing in feeling confirmed and whole, self-contained and comfortable, is some kind of death. It doesn’t have any fresh air. There’s no room for something to come in and interrupt all that. We are killing the moment by controlling our experience. Doing this is setting ourselves up for failure, because sooner or later, we’re going to have an experience that we can’t control: our house is going to burn down, someone we love is going to die, we’re going to find out we have cancer, a brick is going to fall out of the sky and hit us on the head… To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.”
“When Things Fall Apart”, page 70 (Pema Chödrön, 1997)
Thank you for sharing this, Donna. It’s really helpful. I’m sorry it took me a while to reply. A wedding in Cyprus happened in-between.
…and I’m just now finding your replies!
I hope all my replies I’ve been working on today turn up somewhere for you, Donna.