Emotional resistance
thoughts on living more freely through release and learning along the way
Hi, how are we doing?
I’m trying to get back in the swing of writing after taking a little step back. Though not entirely intentional, I’ve been going through the process of releasing/redefining, which resulted in me thinking about what I want to share in these newsletters. I tend to have cycles of wanting to share a lot and feeling free to do so counterbalanced by periods of wanting to keep to myself and do my own thing. Realizing that I’m just not the kind of person who can constantly share and create such personal output. While accepting this, I also want to continue to push myself to lean more toward creating than consuming.
Thinking back over the past couple of months, there has been an overarching theme of emotional resistance. In this case, I’ve been feeling the emotional resistance by facing my true nature, including the shadow-self*. It’s part of self-reflection and growth, but the first instinct reaction is to avoid recognizing it. This form of resistance tends to creep at the moments when you’re wishing for anything else besides it. When craving acceptance, I find doubt. With a lot of changes happening in my life, mixed with a general feeling of being untethered, I’ve was meeting this feeling of emotional resistance head-on. It’s a double-edged sword as the liberating energy of renewal can be great for launching a purposeful life, but maintaining it somehow becomes irrationally difficult*.
What comes up, must come down. The cyclical nature of life only plays into this feeling of irrational difficulty. Yet, it is nothing more than the fear of making the wrong choice when faced with options. The truth is, we will never know if another choice would be any better than the one made since you can never know the outcome of a hypothetical situation. While easier said than believed, this idea gave me some room to work with the emotional resistance I’d been facing. By reframing outcomes as the only reality, I had gained freedom to continue to think linearly, to enjoy the moments as they’re happening, and, most importantly, have fun while navigating it all. In creating room to dream, not dwell, I found excitement in the journey and not the destination.
Early Summer Lessons
Taking one step (or choice) at a time creates expansion
Reframing is useful when used for objectivity and not detachement
Being independent doesn’t forgo connection
Setting yourself free is innately a painful process
Indecision is worse than learning from a mistake
Re-read a book that made an impact on you when you were younger
Nostalgia isn’t longing when leveraged for self-discovery and connection
May + June Playlists
While writing was harder these past two months, I still kept up with making monthly playlists As a result of my delay in getting this out, you get not only one but two - lucky you!
May’s theme was finding freedom in the refame and June was don’t chase the god realm. Hope you take a listen, hope you find a song you enjoy, and maybe you’ll come across something new.
For those of you reading in SF, I hope you find the sun over the next couple months to feel some of the sweet, summer that we tend to long for. For everyone, I hope you find yourself somewhere that brings you a sense of simplicity. After all, that’s the piece of summer nostoliga that can be the most revealing to what we may need more of in our daily lives.
With care,
Liz