Hello Beautiful One,
As I mentioned in my last message to you, I have created something I think is really special. I hope you think so too. It is all about empathy, emotions, and working with the essential guidance, from what may sometimes feel is your overly sensitive, feeling
nature.
Within your deeply caring and very sensitive nature
is an innate wisdom.
It will always guide you to what is needed,
what is wanted,
what is next.
Except, for that part where all the feeling becomes confusing and overwhelming.
Except, when it is hard to sort out what is yours and what isn’t.
Except, when your inner world feels more like a chaotic knot of confusion than a reliable source of guidance.
The truth is your emotions and your empathic, feel-it-all-all-the-time nature are not meant to be mysterious forces that
sweep you away from yourself. They are actually wise and profound guides, meant to return you too yourself.
When you know how to listen.
*******
This is from the invitation and registration page for Practical Feeling, and the beginning
of the announcement I was going to send you. It was mostly written. But it is out of step with how am I feeling now. It was "Here is my course, and here is what you will learn, and here is why I really hope you want to take it, etc." It was good, solid, informative, hopefully engaging. All the details and information are here if you want to go straight to it.
But you see, Dr Christine Blasey Ford testified before the US Senate over sexual assault charges against Supreme Court nominee Bret Kavanaugh yesterday. I am devastated, enraged, grief stricken, and feeling so many other emotions, over so many parts of this story, her story, our collective story. As with so, so, too, too, too, many of us, her testimony and
how she has been treated, hits hard inside of me, my past, and my linage. I've been in the deep waters of deep, deep feelings of all kinds.
So, here, now, puffy eyed from crying, hand cramped from writing out my grief, fear fluttering in my belly over the state of my country, whether you take my class or not, are the reasons I feel emotional skills and understand are so vital.
Emotions are part of everything we do. Even when we are not feeling emotional. Our emotions, all of them (even the "negative" and uncomfortable one) hold vital information and guidance for us. They are not problems to over come, they are they way through. When we don't know how
to work with them, they can become forces of devastation.
Our empathy, and our highly sensitive nature, is not meant to be a problem to overcome, or a something that keeps us overwhelmed and separate from the world. It is a unique sensitivity that brings us into profound intimacy with the
world. It is meant to flow and adapt to meet the world just as it is, not be an ever open channel to everything all the time.
My grief over the realities of sexual assault is not the problem. It connects me to the deepest parts of our humanity. My
rage is not a force to tamp down. It awakens the honorable sentry of what needs protection. My fear does not lie, nor is not something to get rid of. It awakens my intuition and alerts me to what needs to be paid attention to.
Yes, our
emotions can be disruptive, and even dangerous when not tended with care. Look at the world around us! They most certainly are not always convenient. And, when we know their ways and language, they become wise allies bringing us into the richness and wisdom of our human selves, rather than things to manage, eliminate, or overcome.
Yes, our empathy, our sensitivity, can leave us feeling like we are walking in the world with no skin. Feeling everything, all the time. And, when we understand how it works, and how to attend to it, it becomes a profound force of understanding and support.
But, right here, right now, whether Practical Feeling is for you or not, I want you to know this:
Our grief, it doesn't have to swallow us. Our anger, it doesn't have to consume us. Our fear, it doesn't
have to stop us unnecessarily. Our happiness and joy, it can flow in response to the beauty and soul of the world, even when horrible, awful things are happening, rather than the prize we forever strive for as a measure of being good enough.
When we learn the language our emotions speak and hear their guidance, when
we allow our empathy to ebb and flow with the needs and challenges of life, when we know how to work with these amazing forces of our holy, human selves, we are returned wholly to ourselves.
If you feel called, I would love to have you. Here are the details:
4 weeks, October 15-November 16, 2018
Part coaching group and part learning environment, we will explore: what exactly empathy is and how it works within you; how to understand the essential messages all of your emotions (even the uncomfortable or
“negative” ones); and how to balance deep care for yourself with care of your loved ones and the world.
Included:
* weekly meetings via Zoom conferencing
* worksheets and documents to support your learning, including a compiled PDF notebook of everything at the end of the course
* an optional, secret Facebook group where we can gather and explore together, including "office hours"
where I will be available for questions and support.
* options for additional coaching time with me
Information and registration is here.
Until next time,
Sandi
