I’m feeling anxious this evening, just in time to write this blog entry about difficult emotions. Feeling a tightening in the chest and noticing how quickly I go into story — e.g. this side job I just took on is too stressful, I can’t do this, I don’t want to do journalism ever again, etc. — drawing conclusions from the emotional state, wanting to “fix” it, when really it’s just an e-motion, energy in motion. I’m also aware of my external crutches — the impulse to go to comfort eating or researching stuff to buy. So it actually feels like a relief to choose instead to have this moment to just be with the feeling — it feels way easier than living in the dreadful stories that spin around in my head.
