Post #194 stirred readers up – three readers self-described as rebels and refused to discard their chocolate. Does this mean they were afraid of feelings?
I’m going to leap out on a limb* with a challenge for all of us, especially the rebel trio:
Acknowledge the layers of feelings you hold in your body, mind, & psyche. Get to know them. Laugh at their extreme ridiculousness when needed. Honor the pain that fuels them. Do whatever you need to feel and observe feelings.
Please remember, bringing feelings to light doesn’t make them true. Doesn’t make you a bad person for thinking them. Feelings give you information about a deeper level of self. Feelings are like dreams – don’t take them literally.
Zonker (one of Garry Trudeau’s main characters in Doonesbury*) won a $23 million dollar lottery.
Reporters ask him how he felt when hearing the good news.
Zonker; “Well, at first I didn’t feel anything. I just went numb.”
Next panel: “Then I felt a rush of giddiness, followed by feelings of disorientation, queasiness, shortness of breath.
Last panel: “Hunger, rage, sexual longing, vertigo, boredom, and finally a tingling sensation.”
That, my friends, is a thorough answer to the question of what you feel. If you can contact as many feelings as Zonker, you are on your way to mental health.
Let me know if you are re-thinking your relationship with feelings or if you have questions. Email me by replying to this message or go to comment section of blog.
Thanks for exploring the mystery of feelings – Nicky Mendenhall
*Influenced by acrobatic squirrels in my backyard.
**Doonesbury, Des Moines Register, 1/15/2016.