creative expression of emotions

"Don't shut down your emotions. Embrace them. Your emotions are your internal compass telling you whether or not you are on track. Use them to help cultivate your passions or motivate you to change situations and circumstances that hold you back from achieving your goals."

The great philosopher Plato said, "Human behaviour flows from three major sources: desire, emotion & knowledge." We are sum total of what we think, feel and act. When you shut down expressing your painful side, you also loose the ability to express your joyous side. Many a times we are conditioned to not show our emotions. It is presumed as a sign of weakness. But, emotions need acknowledgment & expression. What is important is the creative expression of emotions. There are various ways to express one's emotions. Some may be in the form of journaling. I gave my emotions a creative outlet through expressive writing. Another form of expressing emotions that I recently realized is enactment of various emotions through living it in the moment & expressing it in physical form such as theatrical expression. I was so glad to have attended the workshop Ranga - Understanding Theatre by Arka Mukhopadhya. It enabled me to think and understand my ability to express my emotions in a creative way. It also connected me to varied forms of emotions that we can embody and live in the present moment to churn these emotions into creative manifestation of our essence. 

There are usually 9 types of emotions called Navarasa, meaning Nine Emotions. The concept of Navarasa originates from Bharata’s Natyasastra. Look at the picture below to have an idea about the 9 emotions.

Why I brought this up is to point out one important aspect of being able to express emotions creatively. I won't go into the deeper aspects of this theatrical expression, but I want to delve deep into what we can do to express the emotions that we feel in a constructive & humanely possible way to help us grow holistically. What happens when we don't deal properly with our varied emotions. Either you break at some point or you are totally numbed which is again dangerous. Being in touch with your emotions help you to be authentic & real. It will release energy that will ground you & help you to be mindful. When you express how you really feel (in an appropriate manner), problems get solved, relationship issues get resolved, and life becomes better & easier. We hold back from expressing our emotions fearing many things. Holding back at the right moment is good; unnecessary projection may have negative implications. But, we need to release in constructive ways. We need to know how to release it, when to release it & what space do we release in. 

I urge you to find creative outlets for releasing your emotions. It can be through writing, art, drama, music, talking and many more. The way you release it determines your well-being & future consequences. Some emotions are hard to articulate. When we merge our emotional & logical parts, we create something phenomenal. And that's what my invitation to you all is. 

"Allow yourself to release the emotions you have struggled all your life to contain."

Warmth,
Priyanka