Wearing a special red cloak of inner strength and power, Little Red Riding Hood sets out on a journey to claim her independence. She knows that in order to achieve real self-empowerment she must conquer some of her greatest fears in the forest of her past. The time has come for her to let go of her dependency on external relationships so that she can reclaim her own confidence and courage.
As soon as Little Red steps into the dark woods, the snow begins to fall, casting an eerie veil over everything. Submerged in the dark silence of the frozen forest she immediately feels the separation from All That Is. Everything collapses inward until it feels like a dark hole compressing onto her. Although the lonely darkness feels like an abyss of bone chilling madness, there is a part of Little Red that still remembers she is never truly alone, for perched on her shoulder is the white dove of Divine Guidance.
Cautiously moving further into the forest, Little Red shudders from the cold and from the deafening silence surrounding her. Unable to take another step forward, she slips to the ground and sleep creeps in as her awareness begins to fade away. In the veil of sleep, her fears rise up and cast a dreary dark dreamscape. Although she cannot see anything, she feels a shadowy figure lurking behind her. The shadow follows her everywhere she goes. She feels like a prisoner in her own heartbeat. Frozen with fear, she cannot speak or even run away, for she realizes that there is no place to hide. Finally, she wakes up from the torment and calls out into the darkness, “what do you want from me?” All she hears is the pounding of her own heartbeat.
Again she ask in a much louder and more confident voice, “what do you want?” In the stillness of the forest, she breathes in a deep breath and quiets her mind. Echoing from the deep recesses of darkness, she hears a loud barking sound. It gets louder and louder. She tries to cover her ears but nothing can block out the deafening sounds. As the shadow creeps closer and closer, she can barely stand in her own skin. She takes another deep breath and starts to shake. Her whole body begins to tremble.
Too weak to stand, she falls back into the snow as an explosion of tears erupt from the deep recesses of her body and mind. As she wails and wails from the depths of her soul she releases years of pinned up grief and and sadness.
Finally exhausted by her tears, Little Red Riding Hood surrenders to a calm cleansing breeze which flows over her body. Somewhere close by, she hears a faint barking sound. Listening intently, she manages to hear a soft yet angry message rising out of barking. As she focuses more closely she realizes that the sound is actually flowing out of her own heart. It is not barking sounds but rather a small child sobbing within. Startled and confused, she ask again, “what do you want?” To her astonishment she hears, “you abandoned me in my time of need and you pushed me away when I most needed your love. You moved on with life without me. How can I trust you to be there for me? How can I share my gifts with you when you will not listen to me? You worry about the entire world but you do not think of me. Don’t you know that I am what you seek, for everything in your world comes from within and is reflected out?”
This is the way the painting began before my journey
And the above painting is how she looked after my journey.
Realizing this voice is her own frightened and lost inner child, Little Red collapses further into deep anguish and despair. She wonders how this child within, who abandoned so long ago, will ever forgive her. With tears streaming down her face, she gently rocks her inner child back and forth vowing to honor and protect her as best she can in the future. Finally LIttle Red realizes that the love she has been seeking externally, has been right inside herself all along.
Thoroughly exhausted yet more confident and empowered, Little Red Riding Hood emerges out of the forest of darkness. As soon as she stands in the clearing with the sun shining through, the snow begins to stop. Feeling a presence behind her Little Red takes a deep breath in and out. No longer fearful of the shadow, she realizes it was just a messenger delivering what she long wanted to remember. She is aware that there will be times where she will fall back asleep, however, since she found her way through the forest of darkness once, she is confident that she will be able to wake up and walk through it again. Together with the child that lives in her heart, she moves forward on her journey of life, creating new adventures and dreams one step at a ti