Sometimes we don’t know what we are feeling. We kind of know we should be feeling something but we don’t. Or we never feel anything special. Or there is one emotion that is strangely missing from our repertoire. In short, we are emotionnally challenged. I know what it feels like to be cut off from one’s emotions. In my case, it amounted to seeing life passing me by without my active participation. I hated it. But I still couldn’t feel much. I tried to think my way into feelings, as if I could concoct them from the only place inside...
Posts Tagged ‘ Anger ’
Emotions are your best friends
For a long time, I could not understand why I should be more connected to my emotions. I really had too much of these already. My emotions were mistreating me. Emotions were only causing problems in my life. I missed trains and planes because of panic. Often in relationships I was awkward to the point of looking silly, because I was overcome by anxiety. My loving feelings were invariably taking me to someone who would either ignore me or treat me badly (I could then wallow in useless despair). I was easily feeling ridiculous or stupid, overwhelmed by shame. My emotions we so...
The power of denial
I met Liz when I was attending university. We were going to the same courses and living in the same building. We both ended up elected at the board of students and did a lot of work there together. So naturally, we became close friends. This friendship has lasted ever since, over the course of twenty years and innumerable moves for us both – between the two of us, we lived in 9 different countries. When I met her, she came across as a very sweet person, never expressing anger. She was describing herself as easy-going and lacking assertiveness....