Shadow work & the patterns i couldn’t ignore anymore

I didn’t go looking for shadow work. It found me, in the quiet moments, the overreactions, and the patterns I kept calling “bad luck” or “just the way I am.”

It showed up in the way I’d brace for rejection before I even opened my mouth. In the way I’d shut down over the tiniest thing but have no clue why. In the anxiety that didn’t match the moment and the emptiness I would feel when I knew I should feel excited.

Shadow work, as it turns out, isn’t some mystical ritual. It’s asking why. It’s sitting with parts of yourself that never got seen, let alone heard. It’s realising you’ve spent years trying to be palatable, and acceptable, because somewhere along the line, you were told being fully yourself was a bit… well, inconvenient.

I didn’t plan on writing about this yet, not fully, because honestly, I’m still walking through it. But I’ve made something for anyone who feels like they’re also standing in front of a version of themselves they’ve avoided for years.

It’s a small thing. A nudge, not a fix. A set of prompts to scribble on, question yourself with, spill coffee on if you need to. You don’t need a perfectly lit desk, or a new journal. Just a bit of honesty and a pen that works.

✨ Download the free shadow work prompts here

(Print it. Rip it. Ignore it for three weeks then cry over it. All valid.)

I’ll be writing a lot more about shadow work as it was the reason I started this journey. But this is where it starts.

Not with perfection. Just with a breath and a willingness to sit with something that makes us uncomfortable.

Lottie x