Often--but not always--angry and scared emotions create chaos.  A week ago I was burning leaves and twigs from a lilac bush I’d trimmed in my patio fire pit.  A woman drove by in the alley angrily demanding to know what I was burning and why it smelled so bad to her.  She complained loudly and angrily, seeming to accuse me of purposefully ruining her day.  She even drove by the next day—perhaps to see if I was doing it again.  A different woman, my neighbor, came over  to say she wanted to get closer to that campfire smell because she enjoyed it so much.  I didn’t do anything differently, yet one woman created conflict and chaos and the other added peace and enjoyment to my yard work.

Elisabeth Kubler Ross—another woman with great emotional strength—said in some of her writings that any feeling of anger that lasts more than 15 seconds is coming from an old place and emotional wound.  Healthy anger is immediate, leads to some assertive words or action and is quickly released.    We all have some amount of emotional wounding, but awareness of what is truly ours and letting go of what is not improves our lives and our happiness as well as the lives of others.

Emotional strength comes from our core values and from our wounds--when we become aware of them and can rechannel them.  Often it is the process of healing our wounds that helps us identify what truly IS important to us, so it is not a process to dismiss or cheat.   I love every opportunity to truly connect or heal -- a relationship, an old belief -- it changes the present and the future.  Emotional energy is great stuff, truly great stuff.

Call me if you want some support channeling your own 'great stuff,' I'd love to see what you might create!