There’s beauty in the dark.

When I was about 12 and all my friends had slumber parties, we'd go to the video store, come home with a handful of D-grade horror movies and stay up all night watching psycho men and maniac monsters. 

Even with my hands over my ears, and my head stuffed in my sleeping bag, my mind was filling with fear. 

Everything I was seeing and feeling was dark. I was scared and scarred.   

It was definitely not my idea of fun. 

I was a sensitive child and already had an aversion to anything spooky.  

With my TV exposure limited to ABC programming, the weather at the end of the news for Dad's weekend sailing plans, and high quality kids shows - think Bananas in Pyjamas, Sesame Street and the Muppets, my warning system would sound whenever I caught a glimpse of creepy characters - I had strong aversion to Worzel Gummage, the baddies in Famous Five, and Doctor Who. I still don't like scarecrows and that Doctor Who theme song makes my skin crawl. 

Exposure to these horror movies cemented into my psyche that dark, mysterious things were frightening and to be avoided. 

I still prefer to sleep with the door open and a night light on. It's only recently that I've been comfortable when it's pitch black and I can't see my hand in front of my face.  

I've learned to associate bright and light things with being positive and dark and shadowy things with bad, evil and dangerous. Hollywood perpetuates this stereotype - white clothed Princess Leia and black suited Darth Vader is one example. 

Fortunately, I've grown out of the fear of a zombie or mask wearing, knife welding maniac coming for me, but the link between dark and evil has only recently been broken.  

In the past few years, I've been lucky to know women who are willing to face their fears, walk towards the dark aspects of themselves, and be curious and contemplative with what they find. 

They've been able to embrace the aspects of themselves that so many of us shut away and lock up. They recognise that by ignoring and overlooking this aspect of themselves, they're missing an important piece of their life.  

Through witnessing their courage, vulnerability and trust, they've shown me the value of balance, the power in contrast and irony that we all have dark aspects that we'd rather not show off. It's the joy of being human. We're imperfect - and that's perfect. 

How do you feel about exploring and embracing the dark? Can you separate dark from evil/bad/wrong? Have you allowed the dark, sad, ‘bad’ parts of you that are painful, shrouded in shame or difficult to look at come to surface? Have you considered that your shadows follow you and can be your keys to freedom?  

In my latest podcast episode, Shine Love & Light on your Dark/shadow side, I speak with Shay Bloxham, an energy healer trained in Saraswati healing, Reiki healing, NeuroLinguistic Programming, Timeline Therapy and Hypnotherapy, about her personal journey and discovery of her dark side. 

Shay shares how the abrupt end to her three year relationship with a soulmate took her to dark places, gave her the opportunity to undertake a deep healing journey, and saw her emerge powerful, confident and aligned with her truth. 

By sharing her story and experience facing her fears head-on, she shows us that there's beauty in the dark and shadow aspects of our lives. She points out that by shining love and light on them we get access to valuable, overlooked parts of our true nature.

Shay's message will inspire you to be courageous, take full responsibility for all aspects of yourself, and discover your hidden power source.

You can listen on your favourite podcast platform - look up ' Shine Love & Light on', or find it on Spotify. You can watch it on YouTube if you'd like to see us! Info, links and previous podcast details can be found on my website too. 

Whether or not you choose to listen to our conversation, I want you to know, there's no need to be afraid of the dark.  

The dark allows your star to shine.