Like Clouds in the Sky
Labeling emotions is like looking for shapes in the clouds in the sky. That one looks like a dinosaur, and that one looks like a moth. While this can be a fun distraction, the clouds are just clouds. They don’t have any inherent meaning other than what we apply to them.
What if your emotions don’t have any inherent meaning either?
Clouds shift and change as they drift across the sky. Our emotions do the same. They shift and change from moment to moment as they drift across our experience.
Been There, Felt That
If we are too quick to apply labels, we can miss out on the textural experience of the emotion. Labeling the emotion categorizes them. We place the emotion into a “felt this before” box. If we identify our current emotion with one we have felt before, we tend to miss the nuances of the emotion. The act of labeling relates it to a past experience through words like anger, frustration, sadness or any other descriptive word. This act limits our ability to experience each emotion fully. Like the shifting clouds, emotions also change and shift in our awareness. Labeling makes it easier to miss the ways they transform from moment to moment.
Each cloud is unique. Some are big, some are small. Clouds can be many colors: red, purple, orange, and so much more. They can take on the vibrant hue of a sunset or sunrise. Some are white and fluffy and others dark and stormy. They all create different shapes in the sky, and none are identical.
All clouds, no matter the shape, size, or color, are made of the same thing. They are made of water vapor. While they might look solid, they are insubstantial. We can pass right through them.
Each emotion, like each cloud, is unique. If we slow down to experience them, we find that no two emotions are the same. Each emotion has its own experiential feeling.
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
There are no good or bad emotions much like there are no good and bad clouds. When emotions are dark and stormy, I refer to them as contracted. Other emotions are expansive. Expansive emotions tend to feel warm and inviting. While contracted emotions can feel uncomfortable if we don’t understand them, they are not ugly or even bad. They are actually trying to help alleviate your suffering.
Although it can feel like it sometimes, your emotions aren’t trying to hurt you for no reason. All emotions are trying to inform and guide. They guide you to the content of your mind. When your mind becomes stormy, your emotions will be stormy. When your mind is calm, your emotions will be calm. Emotions give you in the moment feedback to how you are using your mind. Emotions don’t want to hurt you, all they want is to do is be felt.
Like clouds, all emotions are made of the same “stuff.” Each one is energy manifesting in the mind and body. This energy of emotions is neutral, transitory, and divine in nature.
Thought’s Shadow
Every emotion is the shadow of a thought.
There are our thoughts have no shadow. We don’t feel the emotions because we suppress it. Other times, we can see the shadow, but can’t see what creates it. We feel the emotion but can’t identify the thought that created it.
Most of the time, we see the thought and its shadow. We hear the thought and feel the emotion it creates. Thoughts come at us faster than emotions. An emotion trails each thought like a shadow trails a shape.
Many of us get scared of the shadows because we can’t see what is causing it. Shadows may look scary, but they can’t hurt us. Our emotional shadows dissolve in the light of understanding.
Emotions may feel uncomfortable or even painful at times, but, ultimately, they can’t hurt us. Like shadows or clouds, we can pass right through them.
There are times when it certainly feels like they can do damage. Emotion can be overwhelming, frightening, and feel like they will go on forever. We can feel forever scarred by the emotional events of the past, but there is a part of us beyond our emotions that remains unharmed and untouched. Everyone has this part of them, no exceptions. It is where our well being comes from.
In the moment, if we allow our emotions to flow and pass, there is no lasting impact. Even the stormiest clouds pass eventually and the sky remains.
An Inner Weather Report
No emotion can tell us about what is going on outside of us. They simply aren’t capable of responding to anything external. Emotions can only tell us about our internal weather. If our thoughts become distorted, painful, and warped, we will feel that in our body. Your emotions are only ever telling you: this is how your thinking feels.
Even though I don’t enjoy the painful feeling of contracted emotions, I am glad they hurt. I am grateful that I can feel the way I am using my mind.
If we use our thought system to stress, worry, and contract, we will feel it. Emotions are a one-hundred percent accurate guide to the state of our minds.
Drop the Thought, Feel the Emotion
They are actually there to help you. When you feel emotions, they make you aware of the way you are using your mind. Emotions help you let go of or drop thoughts that don’t serve you. Like a game of hot potato, you don’t want to keep the potato in your hands. Don’t keep a painful thought in your mind. Let go immediately.
This doesn’t mean that you should push away or let go of the emotion. Approach thoughts and emotions differently and separately.
Distrust your thinking when emotions become uncomfortable. Ignore, dismiss, or drop distorted thoughts. They have no life of their own. Do not give energy to them.
Emotions already are energy. Don’t try to take it away. Honor the emotion by feeling it fully. Listen to it with open ears, and allow it to pass through. Trust in your emotions to tell you about the state of your mind. Find a state of pure listening and feeling. When you give feelings the space to flow, even the most challenging emotions can pass on by. When we are in this space of allowance, the emotional experience becomes less frightening.
Even when emotions are contracted, there is an expansiveness that they exist within.
Analyze This
Understand your emotions without analyzing them. A deeper understanding that doesn’t come from the intellect is available to you. It is an experiential understanding that comes from an inner knowing only accessible through presence. This understanding is with you, now.
There are times that everyone loses themselves in their own emotional storms. If you do, it is ok. It is an innocently human experience and there is nothing wrong with you, even if it really feels like there is. We all lose our understanding sometimes, but it comes back.
In the meantime, resist the urge to label, figure out, or solve any emotion that comes into your awareness. Emotions aren’t problems. Attempt to see them as truly are: friends and guides.
A Body Experience
The next time a challenging emotion comes up for you, try this: feel the emotion it in your body. Let go of trying to figure out or solve the emotion. Don’t do anything in your mind. Feel it in your body and notice any shifts from moment to moment. Drop the thought and feel the emotion. Often, this will help them to dissipate back into the formless energy from where they came. Be present without any expectation of change or resolution.
Slow down and . . .
Gaze up
Let each emotion be like a cloud in the sky. Watch them come from the horizon of your experience, change and transform, and drift away beyond your sight line. If the day is sunny, enjoy the warmth. If the day is cloudy, feel the coolness. Sometimes, you get a little wet or even pelted with hail. Emotional weather happens. Appreciate the unique experience of each emotion. Even storms have their own beauty.
What would life be like if you had more appreciation for the unique experience of each emotion?
Additional Resources
My name is Rich Life and this is a Realization Reading. I invite you to take part in a transformative conversation.
Much of my writing is based around the 3 Principles understanding of Sydney Banks, and enlightened Scottish mystic. Learn more about him here. The 3 Principles of Mind, Consciousness, and Thought he discovered helps us to understand the nature of our experience.
Those who explore this understanding find that their lives transform. Read more articles if you would like a richer experience of life. If you would like to connect, let me reach out to you. Sign up here to get Insights in your Inbox.
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Enjoy this 3 Step meditation on emotions:
Your vibrant life is a single thought away.
Want to be more present with your life? Read this article about the power of being present.
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