A common piece of advice to have a full life is "Feel all your feelings." I don't think I have dealt with people much who don't do that but it seems to be a good thing to try steadily. The book by van der Volk "The Body Keeps the Score" deals with several sorts of trauma and emotional shock.
It was our weather this morning that got me thinking about this subject. It was snowing fairly heavily and there was variable wind.
There was a forecast of new, rather deep snow. The roads around here are kept well but it takes a while for snowplows to get things opened up. If the snow is too deep and comes down too fast, we may have to stay home for some time.
I wasn't feeling too good about that but I remember Prof. Lisa Barrett's reminder: I am not trapped by my emotions. Part of me is creating them. I am also impressed with Erenreich's "Bright Sided", which is about the same thing as recent articles on toxic positivity. I am not naturally a super positive, bubbly sort of person so it suits me to taste a little bleakness, a little somber cold and isolation. But then on to other thinking. For instance, I try to check each morning and each afternoon and each night for goodness, joy and love. Is this a time that I am going to remember fondly? Is this a good moment?
I was doing well and then the sun came out, the snow stopped and the sky cleared.
Pretty good deal!
