Today, when I woke up and walked through the garden, I found guests.  I’d almost say “squatters.” Piles of dirt were denouncing intruders!

I was always taught that grass must be planted, and that weeds appear magically, and many of them have to be pulled out almost by hand, one by one.

I also discovered that my life has “squatters” who seek to take over my inner spaces. They hide in the folds of my heart, and from their hiding place, they undermine my plans for original excellence.

And from experience, I know that it happens not only to me but with some frequency in every human life.

Each person can discover within themselves plants they haven’t planted, landscapes that calm, and even storms whose origins they don’t know. We can discover, with surprise, alone or with the help of those who love us, hidden passages with different names: resistances, fears, and trenches.

Caring for my  “garden”  requires the patience of a gardener, their professional skills, their patience… a mentor, a coach, a friend can be an effective accompaniment.

There is no change without vertigo, nor growth without resistance.

When fear becomes a refuge

Let’s talk about those personal resistances hidden in the trenches, of fear, of uncertainty. Every transformation process begins with an inner shock. It doesn’t always hurt because of what we lose, but because of what we stopped hiding, or because of hiding itself and its nebulous comfort. Resistances are protective mechanisms: fear of making mistakes, need for control, self-demand, desire for approval. They are those tunnels that the mole  “digs” and confuses us. These underground tunnels are inner trenches for survival, but useless for growth.

Viktor Frankl wrote in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning”

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and our power to choose our response.”

That space is the terrain that the ” mole ” uncovers: what we don’t know, the blurred lines between truth and error, between what is and what appears to be; that which can still admit change and demands a response from us. Identifying it is the first gesture of self-mastery, of inner freedom.

The immature person defends themselves before understanding; the mature person observes before reacting. Resisting change may seem prudent, but it’s often an elegant form of fear. The ” mole ” acts when we confuse security with paralysis.

In those galleries, by candlelight, what we deny governs us, acquires power over us.

Carl Gustav Jung

He warned: “He who looks outside, dreams; he who looks inside, awakens” (Memories, Dreams, Thoughts).

Having dreams is necessary. But being “dreamers” by profession turns us into fugitives from life due to a lack of realization.

Looking inward isn’t a spiritual luxury; it’s an act of mental hygiene. It means recognizing that the problem isn’t always external, and that the first area to put in order is one’s own.

The ego digs to hide what it fears. It does so with three shovels:  justification, comparison, and control.  Justification prevents us from admitting mistakes. Comparison robs us of authenticity. Control locks us into the illusion of “omnipotence.”

These galleries prevent light from passing through. Inner maturity consists in learning to live with our shadow without letting it decide for us. We cannot love shadows. We are grateful for the light they reveal. Only those who recognize their own cracks can understand the cracks in others and offer hope to others.

Our life and our struggle are dynamic, but have a steady rhythm. It’s not “reggaeton,” whose mix of musical genres doesn’t facilitate clarity of thought, but rather the emotion that blends with its rhythmic pattern.

Integrate or Delete “El Topo”?

We must discover the light that reveals that shadow. Denying it intensifies its darkness. Naming it frees us.

Gustav Thibon puts it lucidly:

“True light does not suppress shadow: it passes through it” (Diagnosis).

This journey is not a technique, it’s an attitude:  observing without judgment, holding the uncomfortable, allowing the truth to breathe.

The mole doesn’t disappear. It changes its function. It can become an inner sentinel, reminding us that what we haven’t worked on returns, and that every mistake is an invitation to look deeper.

Integrating what the mole provokes with its blindness requires three conscious movements:  recognizing resistances without denying them; understanding what fear or desire fuels them; and being grateful for what they teach before letting it go.  The result is a more sober, less noisy, yet real freedom. Serenity is not the absence of shadow, but the contemplation of light, the illuminated objects, that one discovers through it.

The sun gives light and heat

In my book “The Self and Its Metaphors” I tell you the following, and I would like you, like a sip of a good liquor, to savor it slowly and let your heart savor it in its multiple shades:

“Restoring ourselves every day, sharing feedback, is a huge task for ourselves. What makes us suffer or bothers us says more about us than about the person causing it. Listening to our inner noises facilitates self-knowledge and understanding of different situations. Making the path easier is like using the right tool for each need. We’ll go faster and without infected sutures.”

This task is personal and irreplaceable. It’s difficult without the virtue of honesty, first and foremost with ourselves. Having the courage to name what happens to us, without seeking epithets. Discovering that  we are not what happens to us.  Things will always happen to us, and our personal climate is affected by all the meteorological factors in the different seasons of life.

St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer in his book Furrow, point 333, says, “Think about it carefully: being transparent consists more in not covering up than in wanting to show…”

And in point 337 … The synonyms for insincere “ambiguous, sly, dissembling, sly, cunning”…

Love the truth, and don’t confuse it with certainty. Don’t confuse it with opinion…

The truth sets us free.

Your truth? No, the truth.

And come with me to look for her.

Keep yours for yourself.

(Antonio Machado)