the mechanism

23 March 2010

Expression of emotion is healthy and healing. Emotion that is blocked or bottled up for too long becomes 'frozen' and unhealthy. For example, it is natural to feel grief and tears at the loss of a loved one. If that grief is blocked and not allowed enough expression it is likely to remain deep inside - we may feel an ongoing sadness or even depression. Or we may feel nothing except numbness and be unaware of its origins, which may be rooted in an experience we had many years before! There may be sudden unexplained release of tears at unexpected times, or perhaps we are no longer able to weep at all when we feel we would like to, or we may become intolerant of others who grieve 'too much' around us!
We see in this simple example how unexpressed emotion can become buried and can effect behaviour. The answer to being healthy in this situation is to begin to carefully explore and express the blocked emotion, and thus complete the unfinished grieving process. To do so will change both our feelings and our behaviours. CCI provides a mechanism and a safe environment where exploration and expression of emotional processes and behaviours – frozen or otherwise – can take place. 'We need to create safe places where people can express their pain, sadness and anger, while simply staying with them with attention and love' (Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, speaking about the grief process).
Part of that process is the transition like the 'change' of a piece of paper into a drawing, into a few staves with notes on it, directing a wonderful piece of music; a piece of painters-canvas that transforms into a world-famous painting. And still it is the same piece of paper or blank canvas that has been transferred, transmuted into another phenomenon that evokes, or awakes an other range of realities for us. It possibly is that process of creating that heals, awakes us anyway about the reality of something that was not there before. Still there are huge differences in appreciations. Not only because the creator is a more or less (in our view) gifted artist, musician, author, creator in general. There are huge differences in that, as there are huge differences in consumers as well. This transformation seems to be an ongoing process in itself. And once being aware of that it shows up many times!