Practically our whole lives we are taught that darkness is bad and that dark and heavy experiences and emotions are not something to share. We learn to bottle these things up and to run and hide from them. We get this false belief ingrained that we won’t be liked, accepted, or even understood if we share our struggles with others, and oftentimes we learn this because we experience this and that is a sad truth.
I’ve experienced this my whole life. I’ve felt tremendous shame over things about my life I can’t change. I buried these things deep within and never mentioned them to anyone; just pretended as best I could that it wasn’t my truth and distanced myself from those things, thoughts, feelings, people, places, etc. however I could. Over time the mind may not remember, but the body does and the subconscious has ways of trying to get your attention. Sometimes this manifests in the form of disease, injuries or illnesses. For me it was major depression and anxiety, and after many more years of not confronting my demons and adding more to the mix, it became complex PTSD. Funny how that happens.
It’s just like a wound, you must clean it, apply antibiotic, dress it, and repeat until it heals. You may end up with a gnarly scar and a fun story to go with it, but chances are, you will get through it, have the scar to remember the lesson, and you will move on and hopefully not make the same mistake again. If you don’t clean it and take care of it properly, like maybe just put a band-aid on it or even just clean the blood with a t-shirt and go about your business, it doesn’t heal properly, it might get infected and become a festering disgusting mess that could’ve been easily avoided had you taken the time to deal with it when it happened. The longer you ignore the problem the worse it will get. Your mind is the same in this sense. It needs tending to, and if you ignore whatever is hurting you, it will only fester and become your own personal nasty demon that lives to torture you.
So how does this relate to how you relate to others, how you connect with others and develop relationships? Imagine that little demon sitting on your shoulder talking into your ear non-stop while you are on a date, hanging out with friends, or any other social situation. This voice makes you second guess yourself and who you are, your worth, your wants and desires, how other people feel about you and so much more.
Now get this – you already have this little voice! It’s that little voice in your mind and in your head. It’s the voice that’s constantly judging, questioning, second guessing, self-sabotaging, keeping you awake at night and so much more. This voice can ruin your life if you believe everything it says. So what can you do about it? Start by becoming aware of it. Notice when it’s blabbering on and what it’s actually saying. Is there any truth to what it’s saying? Start to question those thoughts and put them to the test. Try to trace back where the thoughts and underlying beliefs originated or where they stem from. Do those thoughts, beliefs, or values actually belong to you or are they actually someone else’s who pushed them onto you? What are your actual beliefs around the topic? What is your truth? Not your parents, your teachers, your friends, siblings, significant others, etc. – what do you believe? Begin to break apart all of the layers of yourself and you may discover they were never you all along, it was who you were told to be and who you thought you had to be.
Start to uncover the truth of who you really are, aka your authentic self. This can seem difficult, but start small and take baby steps. Start by noticing your thoughts and questioning their truth. Let go of any negative beliefs you may have about yourself or anything someone else may have led you to believe that you may not really resonate with anymore.
Try to notice when something happens that tends to affect you in a much bigger and deeper way than whatever it actually is about. Dig deeper into your emotions and feelings about it. Notice how the situation is making you feel, like really feel. What other times or situations in your life did you feel this before? Is it possible whatever is happening is bringing up old memories perhaps with some unresolved feelings? Instead of pushing it away, think of it as a blessing. Your mind and body is trying to help you heal. Find the humor in it if you can – “ah hell, AFGO strikes again (another fucking growth opportunity)! Be gentle and compassionate towards yourself. Healing takes time, so allow it to happen rather than fight it and be thankful for it rather than beating yourself up or getting upset or angry about it. It may help to keep a notebook and track your progress of how you’re growing over time. It may look like symptoms you suffer from including a time period and how those symptoms change and resolve over time. It may include feelings you are struggling with (feeling journal) or it may include medications and dosages as well as how long you take them for, or it could include ways you are healing and things you are doing or learning and implementing and all the ways you’ve noticed you’ve changed and grown. Whatever works for you! It can be helpful to look back on when you are feeling discouraged or like you haven’t made much progress.
The darkness, heavy and traumatic experiences, and dark feelings and emotions all have a place. They are part of what makes you feel vulnerable, scared and unworthy. When you are ready to open up and share things that make us feel this way, you start to learn that other people may have had similar experiences. You start to not feel so alone. You start to feel less broken. Now, don’t fall into the “woe is me” trap. Find a way to connect to others where you aren’t just bitching about your shitty stories. What did you learn from your experiences? How did you grow? What happens here is you learn to connect with others. You start to step into your vulnerability, and you may even find it’s not as scary as you thought. People can surprise you and they can be accepting, loving, caring, kind, and genuine especially when you share from your heart. This is how deeper connections can begin, by being vulnerable and real and unapologetically you. You may realize you were never broken, you just felt like it and that’s ok, because you were just doing your best with sometimes an impossible situation. You are still here for a reason. You may still have some figuring out to do on that, I know I do, but there is a big beautiful world out there and everyone has something to share, to put out in it, to help others with, or a way to help in general. Keep at it. You’re doing great!
Peace and love,
Laura
Mental Mind Morph 