Monday, May 11, 2020
Hi everyone!
How was your weekend? Were you able to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather? Did you celebrate a mom, grandma, or other important mom-like figure?
As I have mentioned before, I grew up on the east coast in a city called Virginia Beach. I spent countless hours swimming, kayaking, and fishing on the Atlantic ocean and Chesapeake Bay. Being on or near the water was my sanctuary. So the following is my favorite way to manage my emotions.
Sometimes, our emotions can be similar to an ocean's waves.
It may seem funny to look at your emotions as waves coming and going on the beach. However, sometimes our feelings are like that. The wave comes, building and getting bigger, it crests, then it drifts away again. The same water never hits us twice; it is ever-changing and never stagnant. Then there are the times when emotions feel like a monster tsunami wave that crashes into us and knocks us over, leaving us unable to stand altogether. Like waves, emotions can build, crash and recede.
For example, think of being mad at something. Your wave builds (the emotion-anger), it crests (your anger has now taken over your sensations, words, and body), then it crashes (you may use verbal or physical ways to express this anger). The important thing to remember is that at this point it recedes. It leaves. The wave (anger) goes back out to sea.
What is my point? Well if we can build emotional tolerance, we can notice our "waves" for what they are-temporary. Noticing the process of the emotion, can calm us down in the moment. We can prevent our emotions from taking control.
So here's your prompt.
Imagine you are laying on a beach.
Waves of emotion wash over you and then recede.
Let them come and let them go.
What is this like for you?
What do you notice?
Have a wonderful Monday and let's chat soon!
Thursday, May 14, 2020
What Metaphor Will Get You Through This?
A Jungian therapist and good friend recently sent me an email discussing metaphors and their ability to get us through this crazy time. Here are some of her ideas that I found thought provoking:
...the chrysalis, that in-between place that a caterpillar/butterfly goes when nothing is in form and everything is mush but something is changing. It’s a place of tremendous containment but absolute nothingness at the same time. What do you need to embrace the mess?
The Hexagram 5 of the I Ching calls “Calculated Waiting”:
the long gestation before the birth, all hidden, all unknown, but still poignant. What do you need to embrace the waiting?
Thinking about hermits, hermitage, convents, monks and nuns. What do you need to embrace the silence?
I’d like you to consider these images and questions. What is a metaphor that speaks to you right now as we quarantine, social distance, and try to make sense of everything? What change is happening for you in your metaphor? Is it painful, scary, comforting, exciting, or sad? My metaphor is a hibernating bear. I've always joked that I would love to be a bear. You eat all summer and fall, preparing for hibernation where you get to sleep through winter. Eating and sleeping, two of my favorite things! However, this quarantine has me rethinking. I feel like I'm hibernating and it's not as great as I imagined. I miss friends, family, traveling, etc. I miss being able to hug and touch people I care about.
This image doesn't bring me comfort. It looks lonely to me now. Maybe hibernation isn't all it's cracked up to be. Exploring this metaphor, I realized that I really don't want to just eat and sleep. I need more. I will appreciate so many little things when this ends.
How about you? What does your metaphor conjure up for you?