Make Your Damn Bed

You are not only what you consciously intend. You are also what you habitually avoid, deny, and disown. The shadow is not your enemy, and it is not your identity. It is the place where refused life accumulates, waiting to be integrated into a conscious relationship.Shadow work can support personal growth because it reduces the need for denial and projection. It can also soften the intensity of emotional reactions, not by erasing emotion, but by making emotion more intelligible. It can support better relationships, in part because you become less driven to assign your unwanted qualities to others.One thing I appreciate about the villain archetype is the confidence it implies. Darth Vader isn’t gonna procrastinate because he is too tired or lacks the confidence to start. Bad guys don’t tend to second guess themselves constantly or question whether or not they deserve it. They always deserve it. They don’t give a fuck about anyone else’s approval. https://meridianuniversity.edu/content/shadow-work-meaning-in-jungian-psychology-explainedRead Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. 

You're not broken, you're human. And being human is often difficult and contradictory work. Shadow work is grounded in deep internal reflection, not self-optimization. "Jung describes the shadow as containing not only rejected or socially unacceptable impulses, but also normal instincts and creative capacities that have been disowned in the process of adaptation. The problem is not that these impulses exist. The problem is whether they remain unconscious and therefore act autonomously.Integrating the shadow does not mean indulging it or acting it out. It means recognizing that certain impulses, emotions, or desires are part of your psychic reality and taking conscious responsibility for how they are held and expressed. Jung emphasizes that this task "challenges the whole ego-personality," requiring sustained ethical effort rather than a dramatic confession or catharsis.From this perspective, shadow work does not excuse harmful behavior. On the contrary, it reduces the risk of unconscious enactment by bringing disowned material into conscious awareness. This is why Jung places ethical responsibility firmly with the ego. Awareness increases choice. Lack of awareness increases compulsion."https://meridianuniversity.edu/content/shadow-work-meaning-in-jungian-psychology-explainedhttps://academyofideas.com/2020/02/how-to-integrate-your-shadow/Read Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. 

Confidence, drive, boundary setting, focus, and self-led intention are considered "bad traits" in a patriarchal society, but they aren't.https://moral-ranking.fandom.com/wiki/Villainshttps://meridianuniversity.edu/content/shadow-work-meaning-in-jungian-psychology-explainedhttps://academyofideas.com/2020/02/how-to-integrate-your-shadow/Read Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. 

One thing I appreciate about the villain archetype is the confidence it implies. Darth Vader isn’t gonna procrastinate because he is too tired or lacks the confidence to start. Bad guys don’t tend to second guess themselves constantly or question whether or not they deserve it. They always deserve it. They don’t give a fuck about anyone else’s approval. https://heroinejourneys.com/healing-journey/https://www.alchemyofthought.com/blog/heroines-vs-heros-journeyhttps://www.abuddhistlibrary.comhttps://academyofideas.com/2020/02/how-to-integrate-your-shadow/Read Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. 

We all love the idea of a redemption arc. We love the idea of hitting rock bottom and bouncing up and transforming into a confident, powerful badass permanently. As humans, we tend to see things in black and white, before and after, cut and dry. But it’s important to remember that no timeline or journey or arc is linear. Unfortunately life, and healing, is a messy process. Unfortunately it is not something you can win or lose, but instead relies on a perspective shift that allows compassion and integration to be able to react better, not perfectly. Prioritizing yourself (after years of not) might piss off the people around you who are used to you self sacrificing for them. This transition period will be uncomfortable for them and you. Adjust anyway. Again, I’m not saying to be mean or neglectful but you must learn to set some actual boundaries, and start to take yourself and your own capacity into consideration, and stop abandoning yourself in order to take care of everyone else. When you do this, with enough time and practice, you’ll be teaching others that they are capable of taking some of the burden they’d offloaded onto you. And you’ll be teaching your own nervous system you are safe and someone who can be trusted. Correcting those who criticize or dislike or misunderstand you cannot become the priority. You have to build your tolerance for unpopularity. Now admittedly, I initially had some hesitation to say embrace your “villain” era because I don’t want anyone who is already evil to feel empowered to be more evil, but I do truly believe that there is a select few of us human beings who need to be explicitly taught how to prioritize ourselves, which means we need to unlearn some of the ingrained habits that make us feel like we HAVE to be “good” a the expense of what is actually fair and right. So the villain I’m speaking about is not the type of villain that will harm others to get ahead, but instead the type of villain that realizes the power in prioritizing their needs so they can get back to elevating the collective needs of the world around them. I’m speaking specifically to those people who’s empathy for other people has become such an inherent part of their identity that they’ve forgotten their own humanity in the process.The idea is to integrate the parts of ourselves we’ve blocked out so we can become whole. Integration is the goal, instead of leaning into the tendency to neglect certain aspects and label them as undesirable. SOURCES:https://heroinejourneys.com/healing-journey/https://www.alchemyofthought.com/blog/heroines-vs-heros-journeyhttps://www.abuddhistlibrary.comRead Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. 

Part of me wants to beat a bitch's ass and part of me wants to shut down completely. This conflict makes us feel bad for feeling bad. We have to learn how to integrate these conflicting feelings. Mental housekeeping is a crucial part of the process."We all go through the healing cycle many times in our lives. It is inevitable that we may be disappointed by others' or by our own behavior at times. The forgiveness process offers a method of doing "emotional and mental housecleaning", of cleaning up the residues left by this. At first this may mean cleaning our emotional and mental household of the residue of many years of neglected accumulations of distress. It may seem like a big task to some, at the outset. However it can usually be done within a few months. Looking back once it has been done, it does not seem to large as it did at the outset. The amount of time required is probably less than one thirty thousandth part of your life time. Most of us will spend more time drinking tea or coffee than that, certainly more time sleeping! Just for a while, you will need to give it some priority. Most of us will spend more money on maintaining our motor vehicles that on maintaining our most precious possession - our sacred consciousness, our "hearts". It is always important to review how we have rank-ordered our values, and pain, tension, and disease are alerting signals when it is time to do that."The healing journey is not linear and it exists in many forms. The healing journey outlined by the Buddhist Library is:HURT.  FEAR OR ANGER.  FEAR AND ANGER GIVE RISE TO CONFLICTS.  LOSS OF LOVE FOR SELF AND/OR OTHERS.  ACTIVATION OF THE DEATH OR ILLNESS WISH.  LIFT IN LIFE ENERGY.DECISION TO GET WELL WHATEVER THAT MEANS, WHATEVER IT TAKES.  DECISION TO FORGIVE/ FORGIVENESS PROCESS.  UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.  HEALING AND UNDERSTANDING.WHOLENESS AND HEALTH/ BEING TRUE TO ONE’S SELF.  SOURCES:https://heroinejourneys.com/healing-journey/https://www.alchemyofthought.com/blog/heroines-vs-heros-journeyhttps://www.abuddhistlibrary.comhttps://heroinejourneys.com/heroines-journey/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroine%27s_journeyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journeyRead Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. 

The healing journey is not linear and it exists in many forms. The healing journey outlined by the Buddhist Library is:HURT.  FEAR OR ANGER.  FEAR AND ANGER GIVE RISE TO CONFLICTS.  LOSS OF LOVE FOR SELF AND/OR OTHERS.  ACTIVATION OF THE DEATH OR ILLNESS WISH.  LIFT IN LIFE ENERGY.DECISION TO GET WELL WHATEVER THAT MEANS, WHATEVER IT TAKES.  DECISION TO FORGIVE/ FORGIVENESS PROCESS.  UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.  HEALING AND UNDERSTANDING.WHOLENESS AND HEALTH/ BEING TRUE TO ONE’S SELF.  SOURCES:https://heroinejourneys.com/healing-journey/https://www.alchemyofthought.com/blog/heroines-vs-heros-journeyhttps://www.abuddhistlibrary.comhttps://heroinejourneys.com/heroines-journey/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroine%27s_journeyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journeyRead Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. 

Note: When I speak of women vs. men in this context I don’t do it to reinforce the binary. I don’t believe in the binary, but because we grew up and now exist in a society that reinforces the binary at every turn, I am speaking in regards to how we tend to be raised on gender lines. I hope this will apply to individuals regardless of gender, but when I speak about specific genders being affected, it is always in regards to our socialization. The societal expectations that were pushed upon us. NOT some feminine or masculine concept that is based in anything natural. SOURCES:https://heroinejourneys.com/heroines-journey/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroine%27s_journeyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journeyhttps://www.alchemyofthought.com/blog/heroines-vs-heros-journeyRead Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. 

Do no harm but take no shit.Historically, especially under a patriarchal rule, women have been taught to be selfless, self sacrificing, useful, and kind over everything else.  The goal is to be seen and not heard. To be pleasant and palatable. While I think those are great virtues and attributes under a normal context, the patriarchy is not a normal context. Our society puts profits over people, so being taught to be self sacrificing is dangerous. Our society doesn’t have our best interest at heart. Am I telling you to not be kind, or generous? No. I am telling you to back off of the self sacrificing role that a lot of us were forced into. Compliance, obedience, and self sacrifice is dangerous, yet it’s what many of us women were taught as the “normal” expectation of us. Remember that Matilda couldn't access her magic until she was pissed off.SOURCES:https://meridianuniversity.edu/content/shadow-work-meaning-in-jungian-psychology-explainedhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/compassionate-feminism/202505/the-post-forties-villain-erahttps://livstclaire.substack.com/p/villain-eraRead Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.