The dark inside my heart

Inspired by the unspoken stories of people, the third story was born from a deep place — where pain screams without being able to find words.

I leave it below, just as it came.

May this reading be a gentle mirror for you:

There is a place within me, forgotten by God. It’s dark and cold. You feel chills down your spine when you enter that place — like a dark, cold, damp cave. You see nothing there, for not a single ray of light enters. You’d say it doesn’t exist, and yet you don’t want to know the way back to it.

But as you walk along your winding path, you suddenly find yourself — as if by magic — in that place. The road becomes foggy. A dense, damp mist settles over the path. Thick or sharp sounds echo without warning. They startle and frighten you. How close are they? Are they dangerous?

And, thinking this way, suddenly you realize you’ve slipped into the cave. You brush off your dirty clothes, covered in leaves, checking your pockets to see if you’ve lost anything or if any bones are out of place.

Ouch! Something hurts. You’ve scraped your back while falling and bend over in pain. You look around and see only a faint ray of light from above — one that fades slowly as night sets in.

You are alone in the dark. And the shadows of that place begin to feel… alive. It’s the darkness within your heart. A place you never enter uninvited — yet somehow, you always slip back into it.

You don’t want to be there, but you are. You don’t want to see what’s there, but you feel it. You don’t ever want to return to that place — and yet, here you are again. How did this happen?

You thought you had left signs to mark the way. What happened to them? Where did they disappear? Did some criminal hand erase them again?

What does it matter now? You’re here again. In darkness. Lost and angry that it’s happening to you. What am I doing here? And who are you, shadows? The darkness within darkness?

— We are the shadows of your heart. You summon us each time you grow angry, irritated, or upset with yourself. We are here to show you — not to harm you.

— You are neither shadows nor light. You simply ARE. That’s all. YOU JUST ARE.

— What nonsense are you speaking? You don’t know what you’re talking about! You’re only evil. You bring nothing but pain. What do you want from me? Why do you keep dragging me here? Why do you keep locking me in?

— So that you can SEE.

— See what? What more must I see? Can’t you understand I don’t like you and never want to end up here again? I want to escape you. Understand? I never want to see you again!

— Fine. We’ll leave you for now. But you’ll come back… until you understand.

— Understand what, from this ugly, dark, cold cave?

— That it’s not a cave. It’s an identity. It’s the part of you you don’t love. And you’ll keep returning here every time you forget to love yourself.

… Safe journey now. We’ll meet again next time.

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The story of self-love is one we keep hearing. But how do we truly learn it?

To love yourself sometimes means just four simple things:

• Don’t criticize yourself.

• Don’t judge yourself.

• Don’t judge others — because judgment is only a mirror of something you still don’t accept in yourself.

• Take care of yourself: pause when you need to, drink water on time, eat on time, move your body, and most of all… meet yourself in moments that belong only to you.