Author: Henriette

Emotional Work: Part II. What exactly is emotional work?

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What is emotional work and why it’s difficult

My brother once asked me if I really think “emotional work” is work. My reply to him was, Yes, it is! Emotional work has more to do with awareness and going on an inner journey than doing something in the world—but it is still work. You have to intentionally feel emotions that you’ve been running away from for years. And this is very, very difficult.

What exactly is emotional work? In short, to me it means being with some uncomfortable emotion that you would rather ignore or suppress. It’s becoming aware of an emotion in your physical body and being with that emotion. Looking at what is actually going on in your heart, or solar plexus, or throat, or body. Looking at the discomfort inside, those feelings that you’ve avoided for years.

Is it really that simple?

No.

And there are a few reasons why.

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Emotional Work: Part I – Why write about this

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The emotional journey is challenging

There really are no words to convey how difficult the emotional journey can be. This is possibly why artists draw devils and dragons to depict their inner turmoil. Emotional work is not easy, convenient, or even something that can be neat and orderly. It’s a messy business and one that will make you feel that you are dying on the inside. But, for me, it eventually became necessary.

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Book Review: Then It Fell Apart – Moby

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This is an excellent book to read if you’ve ever thought that fame and fortune will make you happy. It really does show that peace is an inner job and not dependent on anything happening on the outside.

I never intended to even read this, but I picked it up in the bookstore and got drawn in by one of the countless unbelievable stories of being a famous musician. I got so drawn in by the insanity of it all that I finished reading it in two days.

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Spaciousness

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Often when I encounter a perceived problem or disharmony in some situation I ruminate on what went wrong, or what should have happened instead. These ruminations can go on for days or sometimes weeks. Strangely, the idea that I can’t mentally fix the issue doesn’t occur to me unless I become present enough to just notice what’s going on. When I notice what’s going on, I notice the inner fight, the resistance, the unwillingness to accept.

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Writing is an exercise in trust

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Writing is an exercise in trust.

To hear the voice of a character you have to be receptive and calm. You have to sit at your desk, stare out of the window for a while, and trust that something will come to you. You don’t yet know if it will be a good writing day or a bad writing day but you’re showing up to find out. You’re sitting in silence, thinking about things.

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Book Review: The Last Astronaut – David Wellington

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The power of science-fiction is to boggle the mind and this story definitely did that for me. I don’t think I’ll be spoiling anything by saying that The Last Astronaut is a first contact novel. However, it is quite unique so you can expect something different here. Without giving too much away let’s just say that how Wellington envisioned the ship and aliens was really interesting. Also, in terms of the science, this story was well researched but what stood out to me was the writing. It was excellent. At times it really grabbed me by the throat and forced me to pay attention.

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Two reasons why the Pomodoro Technique is effective for difficult work (especially writing)

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Productivity books and blogs will often point to the Pomodoro Technique as an effective way to get things done. The method involves working (or studying) for say 25 minutes, taking a short five minute break and repeating this process three or four times. After three or four intervals of this, one can take a longer break of say 30 minutes. There are many reasons why people like this method, but I’ve found that there are two reasons in particular that make it effective for difficult work, especially writing.

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Book Review: The Children of Men – PD James

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In Year Omega the entire human race becomes infertile. No real reason is given for this, but the after-effects are dire.

As someone who reads and writes sci-fi, I would have loved to come up with an idea like this. It’s an epic idea for a story because you can do so much with it.

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