By Heather McCauley
“I’ve Got a Feeling” - this catchy tune by the Black-Eyed Peas has become an American anthem of sorts in recent months. If you haven’t heard the song, you’re missing out. Its edgy and upbeat tempo and positive celebratory lyrics are enough to turn any frown upside down. Artists of all genres throughout the course of history have been inspired by their feelings to write, sing, paint, or create in some form or fashion. People of all walks of life are inspired by their feelings to make decisions in their everyday lives. Notice that I said feelings and not emotions. Emotions, in and of themselves, are powerless to inspire or direct. Emotions are merely the labels we give to our feelings.
So, let’s talk about our feelings. First, let me say that this is an impossible statement. Feelings are merely energy transferences; they are how we internally react toward something or someone. Feelings are the language of our soul or what the soul inherently ‘knows’. Feelings are our intuition and they transcend words. Any attempt to discuss our feelings immediately puts us in our ’ego-state’ where we no longer operate from a point of knowing and trusting what we feel. In order to talk about them, we must first define our feelings (label them as emotions). Then we must choose the most appropriate language to communicate our emotions. Anyone who has ever been ‘in therapy’ has a sense of how difficult this process can be. If we struggle with our own definitions of our feelings, there will surely be something missing when we attempt to communicate with words.
Incidentally, anyone who has ever been in a relationship and experienced difficulty communicating with their partner has experienced the effect of how limiting emotions can be. Women are known to be more in touch with their feelings than men, which means that there is less of a gap when it comes to women being able to identify and communicate what we feel. Knowing that emotions are an ego investment, a mere intellectual need to create a label for our feelings, is a first step in our own intuitive development. Allowing your feelings to flow freely, without placing judgments or labels on them is a great step toward spiritual awareness. The next time you say, “I’ve got a feeling…”, don’t put pressure on yourself to define it, just see where it takes you.
“I’ve Got a Feeling” - this catchy tune by the Black-Eyed Peas has become an American anthem of sorts in recent months. If you haven’t heard the song, you’re missing out. Its edgy and upbeat tempo and positive celebratory lyrics are enough to turn any frown upside down. Artists of all genres throughout the course of history have been inspired by their feelings to write, sing, paint, or create in some form or fashion. People of all walks of life are inspired by their feelings to make decisions in their everyday lives. Notice that I said feelings and not emotions. Emotions, in and of themselves, are powerless to inspire or direct. Emotions are merely the labels we give to our feelings.
So, let’s talk about our feelings. First, let me say that this is an impossible statement. Feelings are merely energy transferences; they are how we internally react toward something or someone. Feelings are the language of our soul or what the soul inherently ‘knows’. Feelings are our intuition and they transcend words. Any attempt to discuss our feelings immediately puts us in our ’ego-state’ where we no longer operate from a point of knowing and trusting what we feel. In order to talk about them, we must first define our feelings (label them as emotions). Then we must choose the most appropriate language to communicate our emotions. Anyone who has ever been ‘in therapy’ has a sense of how difficult this process can be. If we struggle with our own definitions of our feelings, there will surely be something missing when we attempt to communicate with words.
Incidentally, anyone who has ever been in a relationship and experienced difficulty communicating with their partner has experienced the effect of how limiting emotions can be. Women are known to be more in touch with their feelings than men, which means that there is less of a gap when it comes to women being able to identify and communicate what we feel. Knowing that emotions are an ego investment, a mere intellectual need to create a label for our feelings, is a first step in our own intuitive development. Allowing your feelings to flow freely, without placing judgments or labels on them is a great step toward spiritual awareness. The next time you say, “I’ve got a feeling…”, don’t put pressure on yourself to define it, just see where it takes you.
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