Emotions: To Express or Not to Express?

There is a prevailing notion that it is important to express all your emotions, as if it were a remedy for dealing  with them in a healthy way.  However, I would like to introduce some nuances to this idea. If we were to spread all our dissatisfaction, anger, and frustration around us, the world would not become a nicer place, and it is questionable whether this is a constructive approach for the person experiencing these emotions.

The Power of Conscious Awareness

When it comes to emotions of love and affection, one might argue that it’s a different story. However, you can’t just express these emotions in any shape or form (or fantasy) that comes to mind. “But…” someone replied to the quote I posted on social media last week, ‘Emotions don’t necessarily need to be expressed, they need to be understood’. “How can you understand emotions if you don’t express them?”

Emotions don’t necessarily need to be expressed, they want to be understood

Emotions as Navigational Tools

Between the moment an emotion arises and the moment it is expressed, there should be awareness. Awareness of the emotion, what it is trying to convey, and why it is making itself known to you at that particular moment. If we leave out this awareness, there is only the expression of our emotion, and I don’t need to explain the consequences of that; we experience these effects every day in our relationships.

Emotions are not meant to be expressed just for the sake of it, but they do want to be expressed… after understanding them and how to. Expressing emotions doesn’t always have to be in the form of words to someone else. Sometimes, for instance, with the emotion of decisiveness, it might manifest itself through actions, and maybe not necessarily directed towards another person or other people.

Embracing Emotions

Emotions serve as navigational tools within us and for us. They exist to help us in moving forward on our path in a healthy way. People come into our lives. Yes, emotions play a part in relationships, but they act as a user manual for what we need, not as instructions for changing others. I’m writing this to make you aware of your internal motives for wanting to feel, or perhaps the reverse,, to feel less.

Emotions are there for us. From the moment an emotion arises, understanding and awareness of its purpose, message, and what we need to do follow. Then, we can work out how this emotion inspires us to express ourselves in whatever form that may be. Expression is guided by emotion, but it doesn’t have to be charged with emotion. The emotion is the messenger that precedes your expression; you are the one who expresses. And yes… please do this consciously!