Feelings are always right
Intense feelings can literally be an intense pain in your gut. They’re hard to sit through on your own, and they’re often a cause of conflict and stress with others. And even when they’re not intense, they can often be socially inappropriate, leading people to lie either verbally or with our body language. So it’s easy to think of them as problems, pushing them away and trying to be ‘rational’.
But pushing them away causes even more buildup and problems. And in the aftermath of #metoo, with the public acknowledgement of decades of hurt and resentment laying there for many, it is vitally important we find ways to actually work with the quagmire of built up feelings. This means going beyond venting and online shaming – many groups perhaps have a deep need for their own version of Truth and Reconciliation. This by necessity means working with what’s going on, deep in our brains and bodies, in a way that promotes actual transformation and doesn’t see them in a negative light.