I am quite an emotional person. It doesn't take much to make me cry, especially if someone else is. And, to this day, I still cry watching E.T., that scene where he tries to communicate with his family in the woods and then Elliot goes looking for him. That has me in tears.
It's so important to be able to express how you feel and I really encourage that in my children. If they are sad, anger or frustrated. For me it is all about finding ways in which you can deal with those emotions in a constructive way.
If something comes up for me, I deal with it there and then. I grew up in a home, where emotions, were swept under the carpet. We never spoke about how we felt, or how to manage those feelings. And after spending a large part of my childhood living in fear, I made a promise to myself that I would not hold things in. That I would find the courage to always express myself and heal myself.
I have seen, how it effects people, when they hold onto their emotions and often end up holding in so much anger and resentment. It eats away at you, emotionally, physically and spiritually. A large part of my life journey, has been about discovering the ways in which I can let go!
I went through some very dark times, but I also had a lot of light in my life as well.
Nature, has always been my greatest sanctuary.
As a child, it was the great outdoors, that made me feel safe, to feel nurtured. The trees, brought me great comfort and I would spend outside, roaming the countryside.
Whenever I begin to feel overwhelmed by something, I go for a walk by myself. I find a old Olive tree and I sit with it. Immediately I feel a sense of calm come over me. I sit there, focusing on my breathing and I tune in to the environment that surrounds me.
Focusing on the sounds of the birds and insects and the wind that so often blows in these parts. I feel nurtured and protected.
If I have had a very difficult day, a day where I have become anger or annoyed. I know that I need an outlet, that I need to either use my voice or my body, to help me release whatever has built up in my system.
I have loved dancing since I was a little girl. Me and my big sister, would spend hours, making up dances to our favourite songs. Sometimes we would show them to others, but mostly it was for ourselves.
I always felt so free when I danced, I could just let go of everything that was happening around me and lose myself in the music. I have written about my love of dance, before on here. About how it is like therapy for me, helping me to let go.
I also love to sing, Using my voice, to create music is something that really brings me a lot of joy. Every year since my sister passed, I go the river near where I live and sing for her, on her birthday and her anniversary.
I sing songs, that I sang when she was passing and also when she visited me here and I organised a women's healing circle for her. Singing these songs, always makes me feel close to her and it also allows me to continue to express my grief.
It is okay to feel sad, to feel angry, to feel fear. Just do not let it be the thing, that rules your life. Embrace it, really feel it and then express it. Let it flow through you.
We have grown up in a world, where it is not okay to express yourself publicly, unless it is happiness you are expressing. Because of this, many people feel shame, when they experience the many other emotions that make us who we are.
Each one is as valid as the other. We can not really experience true happiness, unless we have allowed ourselves to experience pain and sadness. It is through the most painful times of my life, that I have become the most transformed.
We are creators and manifestor's, everything we create, is a direct result of what we have felt or what we are feeling. Out of the darkest of hours, can emerge the most beautiful expressions of life. Because we know what it feels like to be alive, we know what gratitude is all about.
Sometimes we need to lose ourselves, in order to really know ourselves.
So my advise, about how to remain balanced. Is to allow yourself to feel, to find ways in which you can express those feelings and explore who you really are and in doing so, begin to realise, your true potential in life.
