Wednesday, November 08, 2017

Emotional Gut Health

My daughter and I share a condition I like to call Emotional Constipation.

Emotional Constipation
Def: The inability to recognize and identify the tricky bastard of emotion(s) that are swirling around inside you. Also can be confused with "stoicism" or "not caring." The lack of identification often leads to denial and never speaking a word about it.

I look at my daughter in the midst of her quiet chaos and think, "Oh sweet girl, your eyes betray you. I can try and help you have a safe quiet place to process, I can offer up different feelings and let you pick the one that feels the closest, but I can't make you speak."

I'm just now learning how to speak. I believe my condition is part nature and part nurture, but it is part of me all the same. By God's grace he has brought friends into my life that suffer from an opposite condition. One I call Emotional Diarrhea.

Emotional Diarrhea
Def: The ability to recognize and feel all the emotions, yours and other's. They are easily identified and strongly felt. The emotions have to be purged otherwise they will overwhelm and destroy the carrier. Can be confused with "emotionally unstable."

Both types have issues. Maybe if you put us together the result is health. I like that idea.

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