Feel it all
Welcome to Feels
An open, non-judgemental space to reflect on, and get better acquainted with, our emotions.
Why? Well, whilst a life without emotions might seem easier, especially without those inconvenient or difficult feelings, the reality is that we would miss out on experiencing living in its fullest glory, because:
Emotions are universal yet subjective truths. We are emotional beings with nervous systems built to respond to life primarily through a super-fast emotional lens. Feeling is part of the human experience that helps us connect to and understand the world, and people, around us. Emotions are storytellers that give life its meaning. So, whilst we know anger and can innately sense it - how it is triggered, experienced, related to and processed is different for each person. Everything from our culture, moods, memories to our bodies gives us a uniquely subjective experience of anger, which is why learning our personal emotional language is key to understanding our truth – how we perceive ourselves, others and the world around us.
Emotions are informed by needs and essential for our survival. A popular misconception is that emotions are irrational and problematic; this is unfortunate because we need emotions to survive. Positive emotions orient us towards what we need to thrive; and negative emotions orient us away from what we do not need; that may harm us. These are completely rational signals based on our subjective needs for survival – the challenge is that they are based on our perceived truth – which may need updating not eliminating. For most of us, the opportunity is to acknowledge, identify, consult and then act on our emotions appropriately.
Emotions are action oriented. This makes them exceptionally relentless… so, any attempts to suppress, ignore or bypass them is only short-lived (and frankly, exhausting). Sadly, that resentment we may be harbouring towards our [insert person of choice] will likely just build and fester until it is actioned. By acting out our resentment we may hurt others and our relationships with them, and by acting in our resentment we may hurt ourselves. Therefore, acting on our resentment means taking on a more informed and balanced next move. This might seem like a nuisance at times, but it is how emotions take care of us by guiding our actions towards what we need and away from what we do not.
Emotions are a connected team of communicators. Emotions existed long before we developed language and are therefore experienced and fast communicators. In the same way breathing is automatic, our emotions automatically activate responses in our bodies and minds to get us to act as quickly as possible. Before we know it, the anger at a patronising colleagues’ comment has already shown up in our clenched fist, accompanied by fantasies of telling them to [insert expletive of choice 😩] – which actually helps push our anger more consciously into our awareness. At times, emotions can show up alone, in pairs or in groups – working together to help paint a picture of how we are perceiving what we are experiencing. Furthermore, they are also responsible for non-verbal communication with others – in an ideal situation that colleague might be attentive enough to notice our clenched fist and adjust their tone.
So, if you remember anything – let it be this – the intention of this blog is to help us get better acquainted with our feelings by acknowledging, identifying and consulting them before taking appropriate action. Thus helping us relate to our emotions as vital, connected and meaningful companions on our adventure of self-reclamation™.
Safe travels,
Amina
