The Spiral Staircase
The analogy of the spiral staircase is a reminder that healing, progress, and maturity are spiral practices, not linear ones.
"The path isn't a straight line; it's a spiral. You continually come back to things you thought you understood and see deeper truths."
-Barry H. Gillespie
When we are conscious of our patterns and wounds, we naturally long to heal them. It's then realized that it requires a lot of nurturing and time. We may become frustrated or despondent with the process.
Each day we are faced with similar emotions or sensations, and we wonder when we will find it easier to respond with less reactivity or when it won’t hurt as much.
On the spiral staircase of healing or parenting, we may be focused on how fast we need to climb to get to the top that we skip up two steps at a time. We are adamant to prove that we can do this and do it well! Alternatively, we may be focused on how weary it is to be trudging round and round “not getting anywhere” and we just want to curl up in a ball or get off the staircase.
This is where visualizing the staircase can be helpful. It isn’t about escaping the bottom and finding sanctuary at the top as much as it is about finding safety and sovereignty within our body and relationships as we journey all the steps in between.
When we look back let it be to celebrate how far we have come, and when we look up let it be to inspire us. The most valuable growth is in the present moment. This step, right now, is exactly where we are meant to be. In this exact place, we are worthy of love and appreciation.
“Human progress is circular, like climbing a spiral staircase.
Every day we circle back to the same old insecurities, painful memories, failures, fears, all of it.
Every day is A Beginning Again!
Here's the magic of the spiral staircase: on each turn of the climb, you grow wiser and more powerful, as you face your pain and survive it again and again.
So even if your pain doesn't change, you do.
-Glennon Doyle Melton
