Shame

Shame

It wants to eat your soul - nothing less.

A very simple guide.

A meditation in words and photos

By Todd Vogel

Shame is your dis-ease’s most powerful weapon.

It has the power to stop your heart.

There is nothing new here.

You know most of it.

Three notions

The monster that lurks deep down inside.

What it does

Freedom through forgiveness (of yourself)

This book has lots of pictures.

There is no shame in any of them.

Deep Down Inside I Always there in deep darkness, it lies ready to pounce and use its claws to tear you apart.

Deep Down inside II It’s origins lie in the time before memory reinforced throughout our uncertain upbringing.

Deep Down Inside III At its fingertips a catalogue of all the thoughts and deeds we are convinced were wrong.

All the things we want to erase.

What Shame does I With every day it reminds you of the past telling you you are trapped because you are flawed.

What Shame does II It can read your mind second guess your motives and tell you what others must be thinking.

What Shame does III It lies.

With the skill of a sadistic interrogator it makes us believe that good is bad.

Convincing us that we are wrong.

Take a deep breath.

Don’t believe a word of it.

Turn the page.

Freedom through forgiveness.

At first you can not trust even the idea that you are not unique alone, different, and bad.

Freedom through forgiveness Discovering the things we hate in ourselves are merely manifestations of our humanity.

Freedom through forgiveness III Accepting that you can be loved gives you the courage to embrace yourself.

Knowing the peace love brings can allow you to silence the shame.

Yeah this one is very hard.

Text and photos copyright Todd Vogel 2011 all rights reserved Other topics, gift books, ecards and more at

http://odatbooks.com