Oh how beautiful. I never associate Texas with water, but I've never been. Artesian wells must be so cool and fresh. Somerset, UK, where I am at the moment, has so much water bubbling up from underground springs and caves. I'm Australian, so my experience of water is much different - I'm an ocean girl, and the rivers are a different story back home. The streams here keep me sane.

I never knew this as shadow work until recently, but it's the perfect name for those dark nights swimming in the dark oceans of the soul. It's a constant process I believe and I envy those who seem to not NEED to grapple so with the demons and gods fighting within. Having a gentle gaze is exactly it. I love the story of inviting the demons to tea - it's a buddhist one. You can fight them, or you can invite them to tea, sit down with them and make peace.

I also love how 'happiness' is only one of the many, many human experiences in a smorgasbord of emotions, feelings and states of being. If we welcome happiness, we should welcome what every else arises, because this is what it means to inhabit this human life.