Thank you, I needed to read this today. (Somehow the algorithm knew!!) Making that distinction between aiming for calm and aiming to respond/function effectively in the midst of things (I am paraphrasing terribly!) is a real shift in perspective for me. I will re-read this and your other essays. Really appreciated, thank you.
Hi Jane! I met you briefly at the first Journey On Summit and have followed your work since then. I am a retired mental health counselor who specialized in trauma recovery, so obviously did a lot of work with the nervous system, and I really appreciate how you're bringing so much knowledge about this to people all over the world, and in a really unique way. Anyway... this post... it really struck me because I had the most interesting experience with this a couple of weeks ago. I had been going through a lot of tough kind of "keep it together 'til I'm through it" situations, one right after another, without really realizing I was in that state. Our lovely mutual friend Tania, who is my writing coach, calls me stoical and I guess I am, I had just never seen myself that way. Funny how easy it is to miss things in ourselves! So I'm going through all these things for several weeks and coincidentally (not, at all) I was unable to work on the book I'm writing. Like totally stuck. Then one night I had the house to myself except for my dogs, and I ended up watching the last few episodes of Yellowstone and drinking wine and grieving losses and bawling for a couple of hours and, lo and behold, the next morning the words poured out of me and they haven't stopped. And neither have the tears. Tania and I were talking about a poignant moment in my book where a particular horse is sold in a heart-crushing way and I kept tearing up! Big lesson learned. Your post brought up this recent experience so clearly I just wanted to share it with you. Thanks for all you do and may you have a totally wild, unregulated day. ;)
Shaney, thank you so much for your lovely words here- they really mean a lot. And what an incredible example! I can't wait to read your book when she is finished and ready for the world 💛
The last morning that we sat together and created, which was a few weeks ago now, I had sustained a big loss. The previous afternoon I was in a car accident. My precious little car was hit by another car. No one was injured but I think my car is going to be written off. So that morning I was in shock. But I decided to show up anyway. I had no words, but instead chose to let the paint be my savior. Between now and then I have experienced grief, frustration, anger and fear. But the most profound part of this was the looking for a replacement car. This has been a harrowing experience. And I wanted to share how, when I did finally find my new car and decided to buy it the overwhelming feeling was fear. Fear that the savings I have worked so hard to get would be gone and so would my safety net. Fear that this car would never match my little car’s reliability. Fear that I was making a terrible mistake. But I bought the new car anyway. Despite the fear pounding in my veins. And I know I was able to do this because of the work that we do together. That my emotions were not something to ignore or deny but they were there to help me. I took the action despite being in a heightened state. I was able to hold the fear close like a child in my protective arms and buy the car that will give me back my freedom to move my horses around whenever I want. No more begging, stealing and borrowing vehicles to pull my float. I will have the ability to take my horses to the beach or the bush or the vet. It has been an intense few weeks. Holding the uncertainty, learning to trust myself and being able to stay with my massive emotions that often paralyse me has been a blessing. I never thought I would ever have this much agency for myself. So thank you 🙏 Jane.
Thanks for this Jane. I have done a lot of nervous system work but hadn't thought of it in terms of creativity, just how to navigate my life in a healthier way. I look forward to reading more.
Thank you, I needed to read this today. (Somehow the algorithm knew!!) Making that distinction between aiming for calm and aiming to respond/function effectively in the midst of things (I am paraphrasing terribly!) is a real shift in perspective for me. I will re-read this and your other essays. Really appreciated, thank you.
A win for the algorithm- hurrah! We’ll take them when we can 😆 I’m so happy to hear that it was helpful. Thank you so much for reading, Siobhan xx
Refreshing!
Thank you so much, Louise xx
Hi Jane! I met you briefly at the first Journey On Summit and have followed your work since then. I am a retired mental health counselor who specialized in trauma recovery, so obviously did a lot of work with the nervous system, and I really appreciate how you're bringing so much knowledge about this to people all over the world, and in a really unique way. Anyway... this post... it really struck me because I had the most interesting experience with this a couple of weeks ago. I had been going through a lot of tough kind of "keep it together 'til I'm through it" situations, one right after another, without really realizing I was in that state. Our lovely mutual friend Tania, who is my writing coach, calls me stoical and I guess I am, I had just never seen myself that way. Funny how easy it is to miss things in ourselves! So I'm going through all these things for several weeks and coincidentally (not, at all) I was unable to work on the book I'm writing. Like totally stuck. Then one night I had the house to myself except for my dogs, and I ended up watching the last few episodes of Yellowstone and drinking wine and grieving losses and bawling for a couple of hours and, lo and behold, the next morning the words poured out of me and they haven't stopped. And neither have the tears. Tania and I were talking about a poignant moment in my book where a particular horse is sold in a heart-crushing way and I kept tearing up! Big lesson learned. Your post brought up this recent experience so clearly I just wanted to share it with you. Thanks for all you do and may you have a totally wild, unregulated day. ;)
Shaney, thank you so much for your lovely words here- they really mean a lot. And what an incredible example! I can't wait to read your book when she is finished and ready for the world 💛
Fascinating & so true
Thank you! 💛
The last morning that we sat together and created, which was a few weeks ago now, I had sustained a big loss. The previous afternoon I was in a car accident. My precious little car was hit by another car. No one was injured but I think my car is going to be written off. So that morning I was in shock. But I decided to show up anyway. I had no words, but instead chose to let the paint be my savior. Between now and then I have experienced grief, frustration, anger and fear. But the most profound part of this was the looking for a replacement car. This has been a harrowing experience. And I wanted to share how, when I did finally find my new car and decided to buy it the overwhelming feeling was fear. Fear that the savings I have worked so hard to get would be gone and so would my safety net. Fear that this car would never match my little car’s reliability. Fear that I was making a terrible mistake. But I bought the new car anyway. Despite the fear pounding in my veins. And I know I was able to do this because of the work that we do together. That my emotions were not something to ignore or deny but they were there to help me. I took the action despite being in a heightened state. I was able to hold the fear close like a child in my protective arms and buy the car that will give me back my freedom to move my horses around whenever I want. No more begging, stealing and borrowing vehicles to pull my float. I will have the ability to take my horses to the beach or the bush or the vet. It has been an intense few weeks. Holding the uncertainty, learning to trust myself and being able to stay with my massive emotions that often paralyse me has been a blessing. I never thought I would ever have this much agency for myself. So thank you 🙏 Jane.
Thanks for this Jane. I have done a lot of nervous system work but hadn't thought of it in terms of creativity, just how to navigate my life in a healthier way. I look forward to reading more.