All Feelings are Welcome Here… Or Are They?

I love to Ponder! Lately I have been giving a lot of thought to what is Joy and what is Pain? And how does the “idea” of those words impact my thoughts about my feelings? Or how does that impact the idea about feelings? Or what do those words imply about what and how I feel?

I have also been talking and thinking a lot about “Life being Messy!” I really like that! I like a messy life. I like things that are unorganized, uncomfortable and at time unsettled. Not all the time…however, It does keep me engaged, alert, connected and in my LIFE!

I’d like to explain more about the Pain and Joy parts in this scenario. I see many people in conflict about how they feel. They think they need to feel either “good or bad”. We are actually taught that things are: good, bad, right, wrong, hard, or easy. So it then makes sense that we think if it’s bad, hard or wrong then it will cause pain and if it is good, right or easy then we will feel good. I purposely phased that sentence: Will “cause pain” or we will “feel good” because each of those words evokes a feeling response.

I believe this idea assists the disconnection and separation that so many people experience. They do not have an internal guide or a map to help them to connect to their “emotional body-feeling body.”

We have been beaten out of “feelings”. Whether literally or by implication, our feelings somehow have become taboo. They have been: labeled, defined, categorized, organized and in most cases then filed somewhere in our unconscious mind and/or discarded and dismissed. And that is a trick of the mind because: our feelings NEVER go away! They are always present within us informing our every thought and action.  

What would your life be like if for even 15 minutes each day you became aware, connected and conscious of what you were feeling?

Waking up each day and checking in (as I call my morning ritual. Actually I check in many times during each day).

You might be asking yourself: What would a check in look like?

How would I do that?

Where would I start?

Start by being connected to how you wake up in the morning.

What are the things that you do?

What are YOUR unique Rituals?

Start by noticing your feelings and body sensations without a critical voice, judgement or idea about them. 

Allow yourself to be in total connection to the awareness that :

• This is who I am.
• This is what I like.
• This is what I do.

Observe and Enjoy your unique rituals!

This Rumi poem captures it all for me:

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Jelaluddin Rumi,
translated by Coleman Barks