Emotional Constipation

"If we were not so single-minded

about keeping our lives moving,

and for once could do nothing,

perhaps a huge silence

might interrupt this sadness

of never understanding ourselves..." - Pablo Neruda

Are you running from your emotions? Are you moving, doing, striving, working, and distracting your way into numbness and detachment from your feelings? Challenge yourself to be still and silent this weekend. It doesn't have to be a Vipassana-length type endeavor, but it should be long enough for you to feel uncomfortable and for feelings to resurface. It does not serve us to stay stuck in these feelings or to wallow in them. But to keep them hidden and stuffed within is a form of emotional constipation. Experience the feelings, digest them, assimilate them, process them, and then release them with ease. Beneath these sheaths of pent up emotion, you will find your Self and begin the lifelong and life-changing work of knowing that Self.