“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
— Marcel Proust
When I was young, I loved traveling to faraway places, from Indonesia to Mexico. Discovering different worlds felt like a great adventure. I was fascinated that people could live such different lives from my own Dutch one.
A journey into the dark
The journey around the world continued as an inner journey into the realm of the subconscious, particularly its dark forests and barren deserts. The difficult parts, like fear, where the mind would rather not go: “No, not that way. It’s dangerous!”
It didn’t really feel like a choice - more like something I’d better cooperate with as best I could. I was carrying a lot.
People have sometimes asked me:
“But why go through all that darkness? What does it give you?”
Old energy
This is how I experience it: we live with layers of unprocessed, old energy - emotions that were once too overwhelming to feel, such as fear and shame. On top of that, we carry conditioning that doesn’t serve us, such as repeatedly judging ourselves or others.
Through inner work, we meet these parts of ourselves through the sensations in and around our bodies, and through the thoughts in our minds. We stay present with them, allowing them to be exactly as they are. And slowly, they begin to settle on their own, finding peace within the larger whole of who we are.
When the old energetic layers are processed, more and more space emerges. Space in which what limits us can let go, and in which we can live from who we truly are.
A changing reality
We’ve landed in a limited reality, a kind of fog that looks different for everyone. Because it’s all we’ve known since growing up, we often don’t realise how much more is possible.
A personal example: when I was young, I was always searching for the ultimate love with a man. A big part of my life revolved around it. Through healing, I found the connection I had been longing for within myself, with others and in life itself. I began to feel whole and fulfilled, on my own too. Suddenly, I had so much more energy to devote to my own development.
Through inner work new possibilities begin to emerge that are more aligned with who we genuinely are. And what makes it so special is that everyone’s path within it is unique.
Embodiment
In spiritual terms, this process is described as embodying your soul. In Jungian psychology, it’s called individuation. The words don’t matter much. The underlying idea is the same. Your unique essence is given more and more room to express itself within the limitations of our reality, and as it does, that reality itself begins to change.
For example, when you stand in your own power more, others often begin to treat you with greater respect, too.
This is how new worlds emerge. There is a great deal of darkness living in our unconscious, shaping how we experience ourselves, our relationships, and the world around us
But the good news is that so much is possible, and every small step we take towards greater awareness brings us closer to a freer way of living. The inner journey is not an easy one, but it is very valuable.
It opens up new worlds.
November 2026
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