The Story of the Boy and His Demons

Many years ago,  a boy was born during a thunderstorm. His mother affectionately referred to him as “kissed with lightning.” The boy did not find that as a very complementary comment. In fact in the years that followed, he began to have nightmares, seemingly rooted to his time of birth. 

After some time, his nightmares extended into the conscious realm. He began to see shadows when moments of silence came. These shadows began to speak to him. These shadows brought anger, guilt, sadness, and he really started to impact him. His moments of peace and relaxation became moments of distraction and frustration. His mother consoled him saying, “oh they’re just dreams. Don’t worry about it.” This eventually led to conflict and a big argument between them. This led to him storming out of the house and into the woods. 

He walked into the woods and he came to a clearing. The moon was shining down and illuminated a field he came across. It was a moment of peace. He began to relax and take a deep breath. It was then the moon illuminated all of his shadows, and they began scolding him, showing him anger, and frustration. All of these things came out to him, and he was terrified. This was the worst he had experienced them. Suddenly, out of the darkness came an elderly man appeared. He approached and said calmly, “I see you have brought something with you.” To which the boy responded, “No, they follow me everywhere I go.” 

“They are not following you.” Said the man, “They are from you. They are your demons.” The man offered the demons some food. The demons reluctantly ate the food. After this attention, they became a little bit more quiet, giving the boy respite. The man spoke saying “ tomorrow night I want you to feed your demons yourself.” The next night came, and they boy fed his demons. From doing this, he learned that when feeding his demons, he fed them with compassion as opposed to frustration and anger. This resulted in a move from a position of reactivity to a position of presence. 

Eventually, the boy invited them to his table. He had conversations with them and learned from them. He learned how he could manage them a little bit more effectively. Over time they became more and more quiet and less vocal to him. The scolding had stopped. He learned a tremendous amount about his demons. He learned about his past actions. Things that he had done, which caused anger, frustration, or guilt. 

These are examples of our demons as well, and we can learn a great deal from them, as we take time show ourselves compassion and peacefully reflect on our experiences, we allow ourselves to heal and be at peace. 

(See video below)