What Are Feelings?

Summary

The content discusses the author's personal struggle with recognizing and experiencing her own feelings, emphasizing the need for self-permission to be human and to allow emotions to flow.

Abstract

The author reflects on the complexity of understanding and expressing feelings, a challenge she faces despite being inherently human. She acknowledges that while she does have emotions, she typically suppresses them, including the positive ones. The piece is an introspective journey for a woman in her mid-thirties who realizes she has become disconnected from her emotions and is now seeking to rediscover and align herself with her feelings. She invites readers to share their experiences and advice on how to better connect with their emotions, suggesting that this is a learning process for her.

Opinions

The author believes that feelings are a fundamental part of the human experience that she has not fully embraced.
She expresses self-doubt, thinking that at her age, "I should know better," which indicates a societal expectation of emotional maturity by a certain age.
The author recognizes that she has lost touch with her feelings and sees this as a personal flaw that she wishes to correct.
She is open to learning and growth, indicating a willingness to explore and understand her emotions better.
The author values the experiences and advice of others, as she directly asks readers if they allow themselves to have feelings and invites them to share their insights.

It should be a simple question, but I’m struggling to answer it.

I’m a human, full of feelings, but I must learn how to allow them to flow. I must learn how to give myself permission to be human. | © Image credit: Nanie Hurley 🌿 with Midjourney — CC-BY.

Feelings are an inherently human experience. We all have feelings.

I’m no different. I’m human. I do have feelings, but I usually don’t allow myself to experience them in all their glory. Not even the good ones.

What are feelings? How do you know how you feel? How do you accept, recognise, and ultimately experience your feelings?

This is an unexpected journey for a woman in her mid-thirties. “I should know better”. That’s the first thing that comes to my mind. But I don’t know better. I don’t know at all.

The first step is to recognise that I’m out of sync with my own feelings. I lost touch with myself a long time ago. I see that now. I want to rediscover myself.

Now, it’s time to try and find those answers.

Do you allow yourself to have feelings? I’d love to hear your advice on this subject.

It should be a simple question, but I’m struggling to answer it.

All Good Here

Except it isn’t. But nobody is really asking, are they?