Bottled Up?

Sometimes, shouting in anger can be relieving. It lets you release a lot of clogged up emotions and feelings. One fit of rage and a lot of unused stuff gets flushed out. But, when you shout in anger, it also pains the other person and certainly affects the quality of your relationship – adversely so. Therefore, it is not a viable option. Plus, since it is associated with the emotion of anger, it leaves you weaker, maybe even guilty afterward. Imagine if you could shout without being angry, and release the feelings? Sounds silly? Your opinion may change by the time you get to the end of this post. Read on. 

In the name of decency and etiquette, conditioned by religion, society does not really allow the free expression of emotions and feelings. As long as what you express fits into their operating model, it is good. If you make diversions, it starts to distance itself from you.

Should you make a radical move, it rejects you completely. Socrates had to drink poison, Christ was crucified, Aristotle managed to escape. We need not even go that far; you shout at your boss, and you get the pink slip, you shout at the referee on the soccer ground, and you get a red card. Any expression of emotion that does not meet with their approval, society tries to kill.

Physical activities, whether they be sports, shopping, working out in the gym, even the act of making love, all give you an outlet. A tiny window of opportunity to freely let go of yourself. You can shout at the top of your voice in a sports stadium, or when you are lifting heavy weights, and so forth. Immediately thereafter, you feel calm and relaxed, like the landscape after a downpour; it looks green, fresh and new. All intellectual activities give you either engagement or an outlet.

There are people who write to corporations and governments with their opinions ranging from world-hunger to leaky washroom taps. They know very well that their letters may never be read, but it provides them with an outlet. And that is the key – an outlet! What if there was a way to flush every undesirable emotion out of your system. Well, there is. There are many ways. Some of you are like sealed but shaken up bottles of carbonated water. There is a storm inside, but it is deceptively calm from the outside.

If you look at children, they can just shout and cry, offload their emotions and feelings and be happy again in the next moment. The vital difference is, they are not shouting at anyone; they are just shouting. They are not yet bound by the laws of society. Considering them immature, people are willing to put up with their tantrums.

An adult, on the other hand, throws mental tantrums in their mind. They cannot just shout; they need to ‘shout at’. Let me get to the crux of the matter now. Go and find an isolated place where you can shout. Yes, shout; without any inhibitions, really loud. A place where you can just be loud without worrying if anyone can hear you.

Shout until you feel all that is bottled up in you is released – years and years of emotions and feelings.

Perhaps you had moments when you were wronged and you wanted to cry but you could not, or when you had lost a loved one, but you could not express your loss. There may have been moments when you were scared, but you had to put on a brave face, or when you were let down, but you thought you were unaffected. You may have sacrificed your own ambition, goals and preferences, for the sake of family and friends.

There is a lot of dormant stuff in you. It is making you feel heavy, it is clogged up in you. Release it. So, shout until tears roll down. You will feel light like never before.

Just look within yourself at how much stuff, how many emotions and feelings you are carrying in you! Most of it is not by choice. You are just unaware of how to get it out of your system. People meditate, they exercise, they play; they are trying. They want to feel light, they want to be happy, they want to experience peace.

Have you ever seen the look on a toddler’s face when they are sleeping or smiling? They are good at emptying themselves. Empty yourself. Vent it out before it bursts you. If you have a positive emotion – give it an outlet and it will grow, like one candle lights so many others. If you have a negative emotion – give it an outlet and it will leave you feeling lighter.

You are a consecrated entity – worship yourself. Drop all that makes you feel unworthy of your own devotion. Do not keep it bottled up. Empty yourself.

Peace.
Swami