I’ve been reading The Origins of You, and something struck me—how easy it is to intellectualize trauma. I’ve done it. Maybe you have too. We can understand someone’s pain logically, analyze it, even explain it. But when that pain touches us directly, it’s a different story. The heart reacts, and no matter how much we try to override it, emotions demand to be felt.
I’m realizing that emotions aren’t the enemy. They’re messengers. Just like we go to a doctor for a checkup to understand what’s happening in our body, emotions do the same for our inner world. They signal that something inside us needs attention. Ignoring them doesn’t make them disappear; they’ll find another way to surface—through stress, anxiety, or reactions we don’t fully understand.
So why do we treat emotions differently than physical pain? If a doctor tells us something needs fixing, we don’t just ignore it. Maybe it’s time we give our emotions the same respect.
Leveraging intellect helps us understand trauma, but healing happens when we also allow ourselves to feel. Maybe that’s the key—not just for ourselves, but in how we show up for others too.
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