What are your feelings - the ones your eating disorder numbs out or buries with obsessive thinking and compulsive eating? How on earth is it possible to answer such a question without bringing up feelings you can't bear?
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Comments (9)
1Tuesday, 13 July 2010 14:34
PTC
Welcome back!! Missed your posts.
I don't think I have any feelings. Well, I'm good at feeling angry.
2Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:45
Joanna Poppink
Thank you for the welcome. I've been on vacation, and still not back all the way.
Anger is a feeling. If you are feeling it you are not blocking it. That's good news!
warm regards,
Joanna
3Tuesday, 13 July 2010 18:30
PTC
Yes, I'm good at feeling anger.
I hope you're enjoying NM.
4Wednesday, 14 July 2010 05:24
Joanna Poppink
I wonder what would happen if you wrote out your anger. You might find other feelings below the level of anger. Worth a try?
Taos, New Mexico right now is gorgeous. Vast skies with an ever changing show of magnificent clouds. Cool nights and coolish early mornings. Afternoons are hot, especially if there is no shade. (I wear a huuuuuuge sun hat.) Air is fresh and clean. Altitude takes getting used to, but I'm finding my way.
:)
5Wednesday, 14 July 2010 10:31
PTC
Sounds beautiful! It's been hot and humid here on the East coast. I LOVE it though. The hotter the better. My car thermometer read 106 last week. Today it's cloudy and rainy in NYC, but still very muggy. Getting ready to play some field hockey tonight and sweat up a storm!
I really just want a punching bag so I can punch things when I'm angry. I think that would be very helpful, and a good workout too. :)
I do write out my anger on my blog usually. I don't think it helps.
6Wednesday, 14 July 2010 14:10
Joanna Poppink
We actually had rolling thunder and about a half an hour of light rain - a treat when coming from Los Angeles. I do miss east coast thunder storms.
Okay, writing out your anger is great. It's a step. Another step is to read what you've written at least a month or more later. Go back as far as you can to the earliest writings you have and start reading. You can find some real recovery power there.
7Wednesday, 14 July 2010 17:35
PTC
Ugh, it makes me cringe to read my old stuff. I used to have to keep an "FFJ" (Food and feelings journal) and I sometimes go back and read the comments my T wrote in it, but usually not what I've written.
Sun popped out this evening and it was beautiful.
8Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:45
Kym
I'm working on getting re-connected to my feelings. I'm so disconnected that when I feel "distress", all I can do is cry because I don't know what I'm feeling. Then I try to "think" what I'm feeling (what should I be feeling?; what would other say they are feeling?).....I'm a "think-alholic". I'm working on feeling before I think, and it's hard!! My counselor has me ID'ing where in my body I sense it first as a way to connect to it. I carry my "Feelings Wheel" because I never know when something is going to come up. I've had some successes and it's been great! I've learned that restricting numbed me from bad feelings, but it also numbed me from the good ones!! Of course, ID'ing those has been easier!
9Thursday, 15 July 2010 20:59
Joanna Poppink
Dear Kym,
You are making great progress. Here's a point for you to consider. Anything you feel, and I mean anything, is what a human can feel. Somewhere an artist has painted it or a sculptor has sculpted it or an author has written it.
Go to the classics in books, go to museums and be alert for when an artist expresses what is in you. You'll recognize it when you meet it.
This can be so very helpful in not only identifying your feelings but also accepting your own humanity.
Thank you for writing! Hope to hear from you again.
Joanna
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I don't think I have any feelings. Well, I'm good at feeling angry.
Anger is a feeling. If you are feeling it you are not blocking it. That's good news!
warm regards,
Joanna
I hope you're enjoying NM.
Taos, New Mexico right now is gorgeous. Vast skies with an ever changing show of magnificent clouds. Cool nights and coolish early mornings. Afternoons are hot, especially if there is no shade. (I wear a huuuuuuge sun hat.) Air is fresh and clean. Altitude takes getting used to, but I'm finding my way.
:)
I really just want a punching bag so I can punch things when I'm angry. I think that would be very helpful, and a good workout too. :)
I do write out my anger on my blog usually. I don't think it helps.
Okay, writing out your anger is great. It's a step. Another step is to read what you've written at least a month or more later. Go back as far as you can to the earliest writings you have and start reading. You can find some real recovery power there.
Sun popped out this evening and it was beautiful.
You are making great progress. Here's a point for you to consider. Anything you feel, and I mean anything, is what a human can feel. Somewhere an artist has painted it or a sculptor has sculpted it or an author has written it.
Go to the classics in books, go to museums and be alert for when an artist expresses what is in you. You'll recognize it when you meet it.
This can be so very helpful in not only identifying your feelings but also accepting your own humanity.
Thank you for writing! Hope to hear from you again.
Joanna