emotions are like birds
allow your emotions to be like birds in your being — visiting, however briefly, each singing its own song — however achingly.
one of the great advantages of being emotionally abundant is that there is no end to what can be created from this energy. when I feel a pang of anxiety, heartache, longing, melancholy, or fear — my first instinct is always to tighten, to clench, and form a protective layer around the uncomfortable emotion. it’s as if my mind wants to quarantine it and get rid of it — like reacting to a virus.
but treating emotions like a virus is an act of disassociation: as in, there is me, and then there is the part of me I don’t want to face.
this self-imposed emotional quarantine only blocks the flow of life. emotions are meant to move through us. and once they move, they are transformed into something else — they change color, texture, tone, and shape. they become fluid.
when we allow this energy to flow, we can then use it — to create art, to write, to dance, to pursue our truest work, to connect with other human beings. after all, emotions are universal. pain is universal. thus, to be close to our emotions is to be close to the truth; to the essence of things.
the process of listening to the birdsong
when I’m feeling triggered by something, the emotion that arises is often old — born from my personal history, my past experiences, hurts, and wounds. I can physically feel my body tightening. a prickly sensation in my chest.
but if I remember to listen, then I’ll take a deep breath. I consciously choose to enter the state of allowing, and noticing. as in, what if I let myself be curious about this emotion, instead of trying to eradicate it?
what if I even - dare I say - take pleasure in observing it, as if it were a bird that lived in me? what if I allowed my body, my being, to be a generous host to this bird? what if I gave it room to breathe, to sing its birdsong, for however long it desires?
what happens, then?
I know what happens in me. it sings. we might create music together.
then, it flies away.
and the truth is, there are always birds living in me, at all times. even if nothing is happening in the external world. to develop a keener sensitivity to myself is to hear all the fullest, widest range of sounds; the cacophony of music that is happening within me. and is that not a beautiful wilderness to experience, the wilderness of your own self?