SO EMOTIONAL
Heeey! How you doing? How ya been? How’s it going? How are you?
Where I’m from, this greeting was typically returned with, “I’m doing good. How bout yourself”? Or “I’m doing good and you? The initial greeter might reply with something along the lines of “Well, I can’t complain.”
Regardless of where you’re from and how you phrase this question when you greet someone, it’s often met with benign dishonesty. I call it benign because the dishonesty is typically not from a place of deception or malice, but more from a place of not wanting to share our true feelings. The reason for this concealment varies from person to person. But some common reasons are; not wanting to be a burden on others, lack of trust, fear of judgment from others, harsh self judgment and frankly (and maybe even surprisingly), not knowing the real answer to the question.
Today’s message speaks to emotional self awareness and was inspired by the Conscious card and the Moon card from the beautiful Spiral Oracle deck. I also find it fitting that this message falls on a Monday while the Moon is currently in Scorpio.
While, emotions and feelings are regularly used interchangeably in much of our common conversation, they are not really the same. They are connected however. Emotions are physiological reactions to certain stimuli, which can be internal or external and relative to our personal experiences. Feelings are our conscious reactions and expressions based on our emotions. Emotions can happen at an unconscious level. This is how we can feel a certain way and be aware of the feeling, while not knowing where the feeling(s) comes from or why we feel the way we feel. This is what our oracle message is asking us to explore.
We are encouraged to survey the depths of our emotions, without harsh judgment, without shame and WITH personal compassion. Understanding our emotions is key to our personal power and how it presents in our own lives. Everything has an origin. Every effect has its cause. There is a WHY for everything we feel and do. Understanding ourselves helps us come to know ourselves. Knowing ourselves, gives us insight into how and why we relate to others.
We cannot know ourselves if we’re busy pretending not to feel or making grand claims of being “unbothered” when we know damn well we are. Nor can we come to know ourselves by ignoring or suppressing our feelings in an effort to pretend they don’t exist or matter. Being bothered doesn’t have to equate to being an “emotional wreck” or being dragged “to and fro” by our emotions. It simply means we recognize that something has triggered us, and we feel a certain way about whatever has brought about this feeling.
Let’s not allow ourselves to fall into the trap of judging and villainizing emotions as bad or shameful. There is no point in appearing cool, calm and collected while dying inside and not knowing how to resurrect the life within.
Dig deep today. Breathe deeply. Journal. Meditate. Talk to someone if need be. Whatever you do, don’t ignore yourself. Don’t convince yourself that the inner you doesn’t matter. The inner you is everything. It is your power. Get to know that power by getting to know YOU!
