On The Edge Of Clarity: Part 5 - When Love and Fear Speak the Same Language

Unbinding the Self: On Shame, Anxiety, and Freedom

By Debbie Butler

There’s a moment that comes for many people in deep inner work. A reckoning.

It’s not loud. It doesn’t look like rage or rupture. It’s quieter than that. You simply start seeing things as they are. The glamour falls away. The story collapses.

In my final conversation with David —for now—he brought up his father again. We’ve circled this topic from every angle. But this time, his tone was different. Less tangled. Less pleading.

“If I emotionally withdrew from him,” he said, “it wouldn’t just be disloyal. It would feel like I was breaking the rules of the universe.”

He didn’t mean social rules. He meant spiritual ones. Existential ones. That’s how entrenched the contract was. That’s how sacred it had become to protect the one who hurt him.

---

[🔓 This portion is free for all readers. To continue reading, become a paid subscriber.]

---