Who is in your Head?

The wars have receded, rebuilding the land, a few minor skirmishes to mop up. Before the next wars. Some preparation to do with the planning mind, but mostly it is about the spirit. Facing what is, adapting with resourcefulness and skill, utilizing experience. Knowing when to rest, be silent and consolidate for a moment before fiercely re-engaging. Keeping a clarity in the present to monitor traitorous thoughts and sabotaging emotion. Not in order to suppress or escape them, but to meet them head-on with acid inquiry: how are you beneficial? what purpose do you serve?  The minor harpies slink away from this scrutiny, they had nothing to offer but abrasions to the soul. The big ones, the gremlins, were once important, perhaps. But now they are old records with broken logic and tired solutions to problems that exist only in the past. They act as if they have paid their dues to stay, and I should be grateful for their insults and slander, and act betrayed when I lock them out in the cold, to play with the harpies, as I tend the fires of more affirming companionship and more capable allies.