My Emotional Mechanics
Yesterday, I took my daughter (E.) to her preschool holiday party. A man was there who played the guitar and sang holiday songs for the kids. They loved it. E. really loved it. She sang and danced and really got into it. Got into it to the point that she was making people laugh with her dance moves. It was hilarious. And it made me happy that she was enjoying herself and bringing laughter to other people. That's a normal, healthy emotional experience, both for her and for me. And I'm thankful for that. But when I was young, I would have felt ashamed for feeling happy about it. Somewhere in my brain was a belief that being happy was uncool. So I wouldn't have allowed myself to experience that happiness. I would have probably been angry and sulked instead. Not a fun way to live. I'm so glad that now I can allow myself to experience happiness.
For this situation, the difference between when I was young and now is mostly just a natural maturation process. But much of the mechanics of emotion are too complex for the normal developmental process to take care of. If we want to be emotionally healthy, we have to learn about these processes with intention, so that we can purposely use the skills in our day-to-day life.
HOW DO I PERMANENTLY SET 'Comment as:' to 'Anonymous'? I just lost several paragraphs when I tried to 'Preview'... Also, I'm sick of 'proving that I'm NOT a robot!
ReplyDeleteI don't know what to tell you. In my settings, I have it set to "word verification: No", so you shouldn't have to prove your humanity any more. As for Anonymous, I'd probably copy your comment before you hit preview, so that if it gets lost, you can just paste it right back in the comment box. I'm sorry you're having difficulties. I hope that helps. Your comments are valuable to me, so I hope this gets sorted out.
DeleteI'm remembering to reset "Comment as:" before & after "Edit" now to avoid erasures. I've never been able to get by the "prove you are not a robot" test before I'm allowed to "Publish", but it's no big deal. I stopped using 'Facebook' because of all the 'computer-geek-speak' and new setting changes every month. Unlike the 'hip-youngsters', I don't like change and learning new technology just for kicks, so as long as this blog-thing stays as-is I'll be OK.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're figuring it out. I don't care for all the new technology either, but it's a good way to communicate with the world. Keep at it!
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