By Anita Manley

In May of 2021, I wrote a blog about emotions. I think it is important to revisit this important topic.

I think it is fair to say that with everything going on in the world these past couple of years, many of us have been feeling lots of emotions. Sometimes these emotions may even conflict.

@unsinkablestories says: “Many people can feel confused when experiencing conflicting emotions at the same time, but please know that this is totally normal! The human experience is not that straight forward, and it’s ok to feel more than one thing at the same time.”

@unsinkablestories continues by saying: “Polar experiences can simultaneously co-exist. Such as: Growth/Mistakes, Anxiety/Confidence, Accountability/Self-Forgiveness and Learning/Unlearning.”

An exercise that we do in our “Journaling as a Wellness Tool” group, is to take 10 minutes to write down all the emotions you can think of. It is important to be able to name the emotion in order to better cope with that feeling. Expanding your emotional vocabulary is a good first step.

Brene Brown says: “We cannot selectively numb emotions, when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions.”

As the CMHA campaign says: “Name it, don’t numb it!”

Brene Brown also says in her most recent book, Atlas of the Heart: “When we name an emotion or experience, it doesn’t give that emotion or experience more power, it gives US more power.”

I encourage you to name your emotions. Journal about them. Get in touch with how you feel. It is ok not to be happy all the time. It’s ok to have conflicting emotions.

Go ahead and “feel all the feels”. I think we all have lots of emotions going on inside of ourselves these days. I know I sure do!

Take care!