Category: Therapeutic Writing

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Creative Journaling Emotional Wellbeing Healing & Personal Growth Identity & Inner Work Identity work Inner Healing Personal Growth Reclaiming the Self Reconnecting with Self Self-Reflection The Stories We Carry Therapeutic Writing Therapeutic Writing & Creativity Uncategorized

Reconnecting with the Story Beneath the Surface

Image by Jenny McClymont

We are all shaped by stories — the ones we were told, the ones we absorbed in silence, and the ones we constructed to make sense of the world around us. These narratives can offer comfort and protection, mainly when they help us survive what once felt unbearable.

But sometimes, the stories that helped us cope begin to obscure the truth of who we are.

You may find yourself functioning well on the outside, yet quietly carrying beliefs like “I have to hold it all together,” or “If I shine too brightly, it won’t be safe.” These hidden scripts can echo through your relationships, your work, and your inner world — until they no longer feel like reflections, but restrictions.

Reconnecting with the story beneath the surface means asking: What am I believing about myself that no longer serves me? What part of me longs to be seen, heard, or reclaimed?

Through gentle reflection, journaling, movement, stillness, or expressive art, we can begin to reconnect with the self that existed before the coping — the intuitive, creative, and grounded self still quietly present beneath the noise.

This is not about erasing the past. It’s about listening with kindness to what lies beneath, softening the old patterns, and allowing something truer to emerge.

You are not your coping mechanisms.

You are not the story others wrote for you.

There is a deeper truth within you — and it’s time to let it speak.

Categories
Creativity and Healing Emotional Wellbeing Reflection Self Discovery Therapeutic Writing Uncategorized

Reclaiming the Self Beneath the Story

We all carry stories, constructed meanings we’ve absorbed over time to help us understand who we are. These stories often begin early, shaped by what we were told, what we experienced, and what we learnt to believe in order to feel accepted or safe.

But these are not the only stories.

Sometimes the stories we carry begin to feel heavy, defined by anxiety, perfectionism, overdoing, or by exhaustion, silence, and withdrawal. These aren’t just habits; they’re survival responses. We might feel pulled to do too much, to always be ‘on,’ or to find ourselves shutting down and stepping back from the world. Either way, the result is the same: we lose touch with the part of us that simply is, before the fear, before the coping.

That part of you hasn’t disappeared. It is still there. The original self, creative, steady, and intuitive, sits beneath the surface, waiting patiently for space to emerge. It’s not the self that performs or seeks approval, but the one who understands the essence of reality.

As you begin to reflect, create, move, or write, something shifts. You’re not just analysing yourself; you’re meeting yourself. The quiet rhythm of truth begins to return.

Some gentle invitations for reflection:

  • What parts of me have I hidden to be accepted?
  • Where did I learn that I needed to be more, or less, than I am?
  • What am I ready to release to reconnect with what’s true?

These reflections are not about fixing who you are. They are about remembering. These reflections aim to soften the grip of mistaken identity and re-enter the quietness of your own knowing.

When we live from that place, not from reaction but from presence, something profound begins to happen: we feel more whole, more honest, and more alive.